UNM Hospital unveils $842 million critical care tower expansion to meet patient demand

After more than a decade in the making, the University of New Mexico Hospital’s critical care tower, designed to increase patient capacity at one of the state’s busiest hospitals, will receive its first patients in the coming weeks.

The development will add, in part, 24 ICU beds, an expanded adult emergency department, two operating rooms and more MRI and CT scanners to the hospital when it opens Oct. 5.

At a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday, UNM Health System CEO Dr. Mike Richards touted the new tower as “one of the most complex and important projects for the state of New Mexico.”

At $842 million, the nine-story tower is the largest and most expensive public non-road construction project in New Mexico’s history, according to UNM Health Sciences spokesperson Chris Ramirez. Construction began in July 2021, funded by $492 million from UNMH, a government-backed mortgage of $320 million and $30 million in state municipal bonds.

The development is the biggest clinical expansion at UNMH in more than 15 years, Richards said. The new tower, combined with an enlargement at the UNM School of Medicine, is projected to boost the hospital’s inpatient care volume by about 70% in the next 10 years, Richards told the state Legislature in July.

UNMH is New Mexico’s only Level 1 trauma center, equipped to provide 24-hour care for patients with the most serious injuries, so the hospital constantly receives patients from other parts of the state via helicopter, plane or ambulance.

This also means the hospital is often overcrowded. UNMH consistently operates at anywhere from 105% to 120% capacity, UNM Health Sciences spokesperson Brianna Mortensen told the Journal last month.

Though Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham praised UNMH officials at the tower’s unveiling Friday, she stressed that their work to improve health care access in New Mexico was not done.

“I want you to navigate patients better, faster, more effectively,” she said. “I want more patient access. I want more providers. I want to make sure that every New Mexican’s experience is exactly as it should be.”

In a special session next week, the Legislature will address a variety of health care-related issues, including funding for rural health care and federal cuts to Medicaid.

Despite bipartisan calls for action, the special session will not include legislation on licensing compacts and medical malpractice reform, though the governor said Friday she supported both issues and planned to address them in the future.

“We have a long way to go,” Lujan Grisham said.

The tower was originally slated to receive its first patients in October 2024, though the opening was delayed, in part, by staffing challenges.

Despite the shortage of health care workers across the state, Richards said UNMH hired more than 1,000 staff members for the new critical care tower, though there are still vacancies.

“We are always recruiting,” Richards said.