El Paso’s UMC could soon serve more patients

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- El Pasoans could soon see expanded health care services at University Medical Center.

ABC 7 has learned UMC is in the process of buying a new building for administrative services. This will free up more space for services in their original building.

UMC is considering buying a building recently owned by Legent Hospitals.

"They're always looking for that opportunity to expand themselves, " said El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego.

Judge Samaniego says UMC is looking to purchase a building in order to expand its medical services.

"Right now they're struggling. Up to capacity with space for both administrative and also for patients, so obviously they're looking for alternatives to be able to mitigate that challenge of not having space," said Judge Samaniego.

The building being considered was previously owned by Legent hospital. Legent closed its doors on January 7th of this year.

"At commissioners court, we allowed and approved that they look at it and start the negotiation process," said Samaniego. "That doesn't mean they're finalized. That just means that they're given an opportunity to go into a negotion and see if it makes sense for both UMC and Legent hospital."

Last year UMC requested a $345 million dollar bond, which would come from certificates of obligation, that's debt not approved by voters. 

A group collected 32,000 signatures for a petition that blocked the bond. 

"The certificate of obligation would be one way to get the money and the funds to be able to do the things that they want at a bigger scale but that doesn't stop them from looking at the big picture," said Judge Samaniego.

We reached out to UMC. A spokesperson told us they're always looking for opportunities to increase quality health care, but they could not provide any additional information regarding Legent hospital.