Valencia County unanimously approves leasing new hospital to Brazos Health Partners

Valencia County Commission unanimously approved an operating agreement on Feb. 19, 2026 that will allow Brazos Health Partners to operate the long-planned Valencia County Hospital, a 15-bed facility planned at the intersection of New Mexico State Road 6 and Sandsage Street. Commissioners voted to authorize execution of the agreement once required exhibits are completed.

Under the terms reviewed for commissioners, Valencia County will retain ownership of the hospital land, building and equipment and will lease those assets to Brazos Health Partners so the joint venture can provide services in the community. Valencia County attorney Dave Pato told commissioners that “Brazos retains all operating revenue and bears all operating costs,” and he added that “If (this agreement) is terminated, all assets revert to the county.”

County officials authorized County Manager Jhonathan Aragon and Commission Chairman Gerard Saiz to execute the final operating agreement once exhibits documenting property, equipment and inventory are finished. Pato said he “anticipate[s] those exhibits will be finalized closer to the completion of hospital construction, after the inventory and equipment have been acquired,” indicating the agreement will not be fully executed immediately.

Brazos Health Partners is a joint venture between Community Hospital Corporation (sometimes reported as Community Healthcare Corporation in county materials) and Lovelace Health System of Albuquerque. Lovelace’s announcement states CHC will manage day-to-day hospital operations while Lovelace will supply critical support services including medical group support and access to its electronic health record, and that the new facility “will reflect the Lovelace brand.”

Lovelace and CHC have described the hospital as a 15-bed acute care facility that will provide medical/surgical, imaging and emergency care services for Los Lunas, Belen and surrounding areas. Jim Kendrick, president and CEO of Community Hospital Corporation, said in a release, “We are grateful for this invaluable partnership with Valencia County and Lovelace Health System to develop a new local hospital to benefit the community.” Troy Greer, president and CEO of Lovelace Health System, said the system looks forward to “working with the county and local providers to fill this gap.”

Funding for the project includes a $50 million state allocation announced by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham in late 2021 that Valencia County secured for construction of an acute care hospital. County records and reporting note an earlier eight-year, 2.75-mill property tax passed by voters in November 2006 was imposed from 2007 to 2014 and collected about $27.5 million; the sources explicitly state those collected funds cannot be used for construction of the hospital, even as reporting also notes some operational costs will be covered by Valencia County taxpayers.

The hospital project follows a lengthy procurement and contracting process. Valencia County issued a Design-Build solicitation, Solicitation No. VCR-FY23-031, with the RFP posted Feb. 19, 2023, pre-bid meetings on March 15, 2023 and a proposal deadline of Apr. 21, 2023. In an earlier step, commissioners voted 4-0 on April 24, 2024 to award a health care facilities contract to Brazos; CHC materials framed the effort as concluding “After nearly two decades of lawsuits, arguing, attempted and failed contracts and hard lessons learned.”

Several key items remain outstanding: the county has not released the completed exhibits that must accompany the fully executed operating agreement, it has not published a construction timeline or identified the design-build contractor in the public materials reviewed, and the final executed operating agreement has not been posted. For procurement records and inquiries, Valencia County Purchasing lists Michelle Romero at 444 Luna Ave., Suite 100, Los Lunas, NM 87031, phone (505) 866-2005. Community Hospital Corporation lists a contact at 7950 Legacy Dr., Suite 1000, Plano, TX 75024, phone (972) 943-6400.