Commissioners Court to discuss purchasing building for El Paso County Hospital District

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- On Monday, El Paso County Commissioners voted on whether they will approve or authorize the El Paso County Hospital District to lease and purchase a building for University Medicial Center.

County Commissioners approved this item for UMC to go forward with the deal of acquiring the building. This item was discussed during the executive session.

Since it was approved, the Hospital District will now be expanding operations used for clinical purposes to support the district's operations. This is set to help the need the hospital has, but not to completely fix it.

"UMC's primary purpose, if we were to go forward with this lease and acquisition, will be to use this facility for surgical care," Ryan Mielke, UMC's Director of Public Affairs said.

On December 15th of 2022, El Paso Commissioners Court approved UMC to lease the building. The lease hasn't started yet.

The former Legent Hospital will have 40 beds and six operating rooms.

UMC has a high demand for care, according to its spokesman, the facilities and the physicians are extremely busy.

In the next few months, UMC will work with the prior owners and come to a final agreement for this new facility. 

"It's going to be a temporary fix because the demand for what we need now is much greater than 40 beds. It will only carry us to the next stage which will be the possibility of building a hospital on the east side," El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego said.

In late 2022 UMC asked for nearly $400 million in certificates of obligation to make several expansions. Commissioners Court couldn't move forward with these certificates because of a petition.

The fiscal impact will be zero dollars to the county, according to an agenda item.

A spokesperson with Legent Hospital told ABC-7 that since January 7, 2023, business operations were suspended at Legent Hospital of El Paso. The landlord for the facility is in discussions with another potential operator. 

The proposed building is located on George Dieter Drive in East El Paso.