UNM seeks funding for new medical school

The University of New Mexico is asking the Legislature for $37 million to help design a new School of Medicine, which would replace what university officials say is an outdated facility that is nearing the end of its useful life.

The funds, contained in a capital outlay package proposed by lawmakers, would go toward the new $600 million facility at University and Lomas NE. The facility, which university officials hope to open by 2030, would replace Reginald Heber Fitz Hall, which opened in 1967. Kyle Duran, a group manager with the capital planning office for UNM Health Sciences, said Fitz Hall might not be usable in 15 years, according to engineering studies.

“The time is perfect (for a new medical school building),” Duran said.

The push for funds is part of UNM’s priority to grow the state’s health care workforce. New Mexico has one of the most severe doctor shortages in the nation: 32 of its 33 counties are health professional shortage areas and it ranks 32nd in the nation in total physician supply, according to the Cicero Institute, a public policy organization based in Austin, Texas. The number of physicians in New Mexico declined 30% from 2017 to 2021 and it has the oldest doctor workforce in the nation, with 40% of the state’s doctors 60 or older and expected to retire by 2030, according to Think New Mexico, a state think tank. There are currently a combined 831 residency and fellowship slots in New Mexico, a capacity according to UNM officials. Only 53% of them will stay in the state and practice medicine once they graduate, according to UNM officials, according to Mike Richards, executive vice president of UNM Health Sciences and CEO of the UNM Health System.

Richards told a legislative committee last year that “with new support from the state, we are now at the point where we can set big, ambitious goals for growing health professions in New Mexico.”

The university’s request for that project comes as it opened the College of Nursing & Public Health Excellence building in November and is constructing a Hospital Critical Care Tower, which is expected to be completed this summer or fall.

Buildings like the one for the College of Nursing have the modern qualities university officials envision: labs with open spaces and classrooms meant for collaboration among students, according to Richards.

“You have to have a clinical experience to be able to train any of the health care professionals,” he said.

Fitz Hall is somewhat lacking in those experiences, according to people the Journal spoke with on Friday.

Unlike modern buildings, Fitz Hall has a room where all mechanical components are located that goes to the top of the building, something Duran says is not efficient.

Fitz Hall has laboratories for student learning, but on Friday, it was overflowing with students.

Dr. Finny Monickaraj, a UNM assistant research professor for ophthalmology, uses a tight lab space with no legroom for sitting.

“This is the space we have now, and we have to utilize it,” he said.

Monickaraj said if he had a lab with natural light streaming in, it would be “more stimulating to sit and work.”

A new lab “would be fantastic,” he said.

Elsewhere in Fitz Hall, the lecture halls inside the building are outdated — and perhaps tacky, with pastel drawings of past university administrators.

Part of Duran’s job, he said, involves surveying campus community members to understand their building needs. Reports from those surveys are sent to campus administrators.

“We don’t want to overbuild, but we don’t want to have the problems we have today,” Duran said, saying the university compares its building needs to those of other institutions.

It’s all part of the work necessary to fulfill the health care workforce vision of UNM administrators.

“There are students putting out amazing research (in Fitz Hall),” Duran said. “I could only imagine a new facility putting out more.”

A new capital outlay bill, including funding for statewide projects, is expected to be rolled out in the final weeks of this year’s 60-day legislative session, which ends March 22.

The infrastructure bill has in past years been funded by bonds backed by future state severance tax revenue, but lawmakers have turned more to general fund dollars in recent years amid an ongoing state revenue bonanza.

Editor's note: The estimated total cost of a new UNM School of Medicine is $600 million. There are currently a combined 831 residency and fellowship slots in New Mexico to train doctors. An earlier version of this story cited an incorrect cost and number of slots.