Gentry says a hospital should be constructed

February 17, 2010

Valencia County Commissioner Ron Gentry wants to see construction of a hospital under contract and commenced now that two courts have ruled the county has acted properly on the issue.

The New Mexico Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday that the county holds a valid contract with a local nonprofit for management of the hospital project, a contract that had been challenged in a lawsuit appeal by nine county residents.

“They’ve had us in court about two and a half years, holding up the process so we can’t start building the hospital,” he said, speaking last night at a meeting of the Rio Communities Association.

He said the court ruled the local nonprofit, Valencia Health Commons, was properly constituted, and the contract between the health commons and the county for management of the project has been upheld.

“The appellate court said 100 percent the plaintiffs were wrong,” Gentry said.

Gentry said an effort by the plaintiffs to have the case heard by the New Mexico Supreme Court would be an attempt to overturn the decision of both the district court and the court of appeals.

He said the supreme court likely won’t hear the “frivolous” case, finding that the appeal doesn’t have merit.

“Every one of the courts has ruled that the project was done the right way,” he said.

Gentry said the project will simply be stalled another 30 to 45 days before the supreme court decides if it’ll hear the case.

He said he wants the plaintiffs “to put up a bond for all the work, all the expense and all the stalling they are causing us.”

“They read the law wrong. They interpreted the law wrong. They presented the law wrong. The courts did not agree with them and ruled against them,” he said.

Posted in: Hospital