A new lawsuit filed by residents of Valencia County alleges the Valencia County Commission violated the New Mexico Constitution in its recent attempts to get a hospital built in the county.

The lawsuit filed Monday afternoon in district court says the county commission’s donation of $30,000 to update a feasibility study of the proposed hospital, which was approved at a meeting last month, is illegal under the anti-donation clause of the constitution, which prohibits governments from making “any donation to or in aid of any person, association or public or private corporation.”

The donation was made to Valencia Health Commons, a private nonprofit corporation. The anti-donation clause, however, has exceptions.

The lawsuit also questions the validity of the contract Valencia County signed with Valencia Health Commons.

The original lawsuit, which was recently ended after the New Mexico Supreme Court refused to hear to case, also challenged the validity of the contract. Previously, the New Mexico Court of Appeals held that the contract was valid under the New Mexico Hospital Funding Act.

Last month, the county commission amended the contract to extend it by 20 months, giving Valencia Health Commons 56 months instead of 36 months to build a hospital.

Specifically, the new lawsuit alleges the contract is invalid because it “imposes no obligation or duty on Valencia Health Commons to actually construct a hospital in Valencia County,” or what the court filing calls “a lack of mutuality of obligation.”

The attorney for the plaintiffs, James L. Sanchez, is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief from district court, asking the court to find a violation of the anti-donation clause, as well as to void the contract between Valencia County and Valencia Health Commons.

This page was published on May 12, 2010 at 4:03pm and is filed under Hospital.