Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance

committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports

if they are used for other purposes.

Current FIRs (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) are a vailable on the NM Legislative Website (legis.state.nm.us).

Adobe PDF versions include all attachments, whereas HTML versions may not. Previously issued FIRs and

attachments may be obtained from the LFC in Suite 101 of the State Capitol Building North.

F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Campos

DATE TYPED 2/3/05

HB

SHORT TITLE Study Conversion of Los Amigos Nursing Home

SB SJM 3

ANALYST Collard

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Health (DOH)

Veterans’ Service Department (VSD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Joint Memorial 3 proposes to give DOH responsibility for conducting a feasibility study

on the acquisition and operation of the now vacant Los Amigos nursing facility in Santa Rosa,

New Mexico as a veterans’ facility, using funding from the federal veterans’ administration. The

report must be presented to the Health and Human Services Committee and the Legislative Fi-

nance Committee by October 31, 2005.

Significant Issues

DOH indicates the bill addresses the issues involved with the loss of Los Amigos Nursing home

as health care provider for aging and medically fragile persons in Guadalupe county. Los Ami-

gos closed due to considerable financial distress and was a safety net provider in Guadalupe

county. There is no other nursing facility for veterans in that part of the state.

VSD notes New Mexico currently has a veteran population of approximately 200 thousand and

currently has only 110 beds dedicated to aging veterans. These beds are located at the New

Mexico State Veterans’ Home in Truth or Consequences. The state is facing an aging veteran

Senate Joint Memorial 3 -- Page 2

population and will soon need more than 110 beds to serve veterans. The Los Amigos facility is

centrally located for the eastern part of the state. This facility would not need major renovations

to make if useful to veterans and would also positively impact the economy of Santa Rosa.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

Neither DOH nor VSD note the need for additional resources for this joint memorial.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

DOH states the Los Amigos Nursing Home was a non-profit facility operating with a local

board. Operational issues between the board and the management as well as low enrollment re-

sulted in the nursing home closing over a year ago. DOH provided facility receivership during a

six-month period until the facility closed because of the lack of a buyer. The receivership cost

$760 thousand. The brand new, $4 million Los Amigos facility was financed by United States

Department of Agriculture (USDA) and was built to serve approximately 65 nursing home resi-

dents. At the time of closure, the facility was only serving about 25 percent of its capacity.

USDA controls the current mortgage and the now empty building. At the time of the receiver-

ship, it was felt that the facility could be viable with a strong board, a good management com-

pany and a good marketing strategy that would expand services to address multiple health needs

in the area, not just nursing home services. The Veterans’ Advisory Board for the New Mexico

State Veterans’ Home has discussed this conversion in the past at its meetings.

KBC/lg