Exceptional Healthcare Inc. officials announce plans for $18 million Farmington hospital

Officials from a Dallas-based company unveiled plans earlier this week for a new $18 million, 21,000-square-foot hospital in Farmington that will employ at least 115 people when it opens next summer.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held Tuesday, May 21 by officials from Exceptional Healthcare Inc. for the project, which will be located at 2670 Pinon Frontage Road in Farmington. The facility will be named the Exceptional Community Hospital, and it will feature nine private rooms, in addition to offering around-the-clock hospital and emergency services, a full radiology suite, an in-house laboratory and an inpatient pharmacy, among other elements, according to a news release.

Bruce McVeigh, the company’s chief operating officer and one of six partner-owners in the company, said the Exceptional Healthcare model involves offering patients and their families a unique experience.

“The care this hospital is going to give is going to support the people of this town in an exemplary fashion,” he said.

The company already operates other small hospitals in rural markets in Arizona, Texas and Oklahoma. Its Farmington facility will be its first venture in New Mexico, said Saeed Mahboubi, the Exceptional Healthcare CEO and another one of the partner-owners, but not its last.

“There is a good chance we’ll have four locations in New Mexico,” he said, though he declined to say where the company is considering building other hospitals in the state.

McVeigh said the private rooms are larger than standard hospital rooms and are designed to accommodate families. The company also strives to offer reduced wait times for its services as part of a streamlined, patient-friendly experience, he said.

He noted that the hospital will be located on 10 acres of land, leaving plenty of room for growth. The hospital is being constructed by BMH As-Built USA, a Dallas-based firm.

“This is a long-term commitment on Exceptional’s part,” he said, explaining that the direction that growth takes will be determined once company officials understand what the community wants and needs.

Mahboubi said company officials envision two more phases of construction once the primary phase is completed in the middle of 2025 and the hospital opens its doors.

“Don’t be surprised if this becomes a $50 million investment in your town,” he said.

That was welcome news to Warren Unsicker, the economic development director for the city of Farmington, who was in attendance at Tuesday’s event.

“It’s always great to have new construction going on, new buildings constructed,” he said. “We’re pleased to have this kind of investment. It’s a good sign for the city of Farmington right now.”

State Rep. Rod Montoya, R-Farmington, explained that the opening of a new hospital aligns nicely with a push in recent years by Farmington and San Juan County officials to diversify the economy by promoting the area as a destination for retirees and outdoor recreation lovers.

“In both instances, health care is going to be a very necessary part for us to consider that kind of growth,” he said.

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State Rep. Mark Duncan, R-Kirtland, said Exceptional Healthcare’s plans are good for the entire state, claiming that New Mexico lost approximately 500 doctors last year alone.

“An investment like this is important to the state of New Mexico,” he said.

During an interview after his presentation, McVeigh said Exceptional Healthcare is expanding into rural areas at a time when many other rural hospital owners are abandoning small communities because it operates under a different business model. At 45 to 50 beds each, most rural hospitals are much bigger than the facilities his company runs, he said.

“I don’t have that kind of overhead,” he said. “And our cost per bed is lower.”

Many rural hospitals also attract nearly 100% Medicaid patients, another factor in the decision by so many companies to abandon small communities. McVeigh emphasized that Exceptional Healthcare will accept Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare patients, but he said his company takes a different approach to dealing with the agencies that run those programs.

Exceptional Healthcare works to broker deals with Medicaid agencies in states in which it operates instead of simply accepting the standard fee schedule, he said. Medicaid officials often are willing to make such deals, McVeigh said, because it leads to improved access to health care for residents of those small communities.

Another issue that has bedeviled rural hospitals for years is staffing, with fewer doctors and nurses willing to work in such settings. McVeigh said Exceptional Health care has addressed that issue by partnering with Flint Medical Staffing, a company based in Flower Mound, Texas, that offers a nationwide network of health care professionals willing to travel to such locations and work for short periods of time.

McVeigh said in the case of nurses, specifically, he doesn’t think it will be long before the company’s hospital here no longer has to rely on traveling workers. He said Exceptional Healthcare promotes a nonstuffy atmosphere that empowers nurses and allows them to interact with the company’s top officials to resolve problems.

“They look at the familial atmosphere we’ve created, and they’re knocking on our doors to stay with us,” he said.

This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: Dallas-based firm making $18 million investment in Farmington project