UNM Health looks to build reproductive health center in Las Cruces
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LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KRQE) – UNM Health is looking to build a reproductive health care center in Las Cruces that will have the ability to perform abortions and provide other services. The University of New Mexico Board of Regents voted 6-1, during its meeting on May 16, to approve the acquisition of land in Doña Ana County for the reproductive health care center.
Officials are eyeing property on the north side of Lohman Avenue between Road Runner Parkway and North Sonoma Ranch Boulevard, located near MountainView Regional Medical Center in Las Cruces. The building, which is expected to be named the Center for Reproductive Health at the Dona Ana County Clinic, will contain about 8,000 square feet of clinical space when it’s built, according to a memorandum from the UNM Real Estate Department.
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“For us, this really is just another step in one of our most core missions, is to make sure that New Mexicans have equitable, high-quality healthcare access. And so for us, we’re excited that we’re able to expand this kind of service into a part of New Mexico that really needs it,” said Chris Ramirez, director of communications for UNM Health System and UNM Health Sciences Center.
The center is also expected to provide complex care for expecting mothers, doula services, and vasectomy services.
The land acquisition and clinic construction will be funded by a $10 million state appropriation from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the New Mexico Legislature. “I am pleased to see the advancement of the Reproductive Health Project,” said Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in a statement to KRQE News 13. “When fully operational, this full spectrum reproductive health care center will help ensure that women in southern New Mexico have access to comprehensive reproductive health care.”
According to UNM’s Real Estate Department, the cost of acquiring the land is $1,030,630. The total cost of the project is not available at this time as it is in the beginning stages and a design has not been created, Ramirez said.
The decision to build the clinic in Doña Ana County was based on a study done by UNM Health and New Mexico reproductive health organizations Bold Futures NM, Strong Families NM, and Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains “We looked at Santa Fe County, McKinley County, and Doña Ana County to see if we were to expand this healthcare service, which part of New Mexico would need it the most, which is currently experiencing the most lack of access,” Ramirez explained. “And so once the study was completed, we determined that Doña Ana County was a place that had the most need for this kind of healthcare service.”
Collaborators on the project plan to break ground on the development later this year. Officials hope to open the reproductive health care center in 2025.
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