Covenant Health cuts ribbon for new Hobbs hospital

HOBBS, New Mexico (KCBD) - Covenant Health cut the ribbon on its newest location in Hobbs, New Mexico on Thursday.

Over 22% of patients seen at Covenant Health in Lubbock travel from Eastern New Mexico to receive care. Covenant tells us that it hopes to decrease that number by opening a Covenant Health Hospital in Hobbs, New Mexico.

Walt Cathey, Regional Chief Executive for Covenant Health, says, “When we really looked at the Hobbs marketplace we saw that there needs to be some adjustments for healthcare operations, and for us, the launching point was creating a hospital. This is just the beginning for us.”

The Hobbs location has been in the works for six years and will begin seeing patients on Sept. 28. The hospital will offer emergency services, OBGYN specialists, labor and delivery, and general surgeries.

Although Covenant Health believes this new location will decrease the number of New Mexicans who have to travel to Lubbock to receive care, if patients need more specific care or treatment they may still be sent to Lubbock.

Walt Cathey says, “If you really need expert services, that’s when you need to come to Lubbock Texas, but for general cardiology, orthopedic, OB care, that stuff needs to belong inside a community and that’s what we are really trying to build out here.”

Regional Medical Center will be shut down after Covenant Health Hobbs Hospital opens. Patients and staff will be transitioned into the new facility. Bruce White, Covenant CEO of Hobbs Hospital, says they will begin the transition in the following weeks.

“We can’t operate two hospitals at once, so we will be closing that as we move patients and then opening this one to the public at that standpoint,” White says.

Covenant Health Hobbs Hospital is still under construction, but plans to begin seeing patients on Sept. 28.

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