High turnover for the top post in the Rio Arriba County Fire Marshal’s Office has contributed to a nearly six-month delay in the opening of a recently-built healthcare clinic in the Abiquiú area.
Las Clinicas del Norte officials have been waiting a bit more than five months for a certificate of occupancy, so they can open the new facility.
The $2.3 million building, paid for through a combination of a New Mexico Finance Authority loan and Las Clinicas del Norte cash reserves, can’t open until a Construction Industries inspector does a final walk-through. The walk-through is needed to make sure the structure’s fire suppression system adheres to the state’s fire code.
The Finance Authority loan was for $1.2 million, but only $600,000 was used. The unused funds were returned to the Finance Authority. The other $1.7 came from the reserve fund. The cost covered furnishings, including the equipment needed to treat patients.
Rio Arriba County Manager Tomas Campos said Las Clinicas staff couldn’t move into the building because former fire marshal Jerome Sanchez took jurisdiction over the approval of the project’s sprinkler system and fire codes. However, the state inspector who must issue a certificate of occupancy wouldn’t approve the fire codes and sprinkler system Sanchez authorized, creating the slowdown.
Campos said once he realized what Sanchez was up to, he immediately intervened, but by that time, the damage was done.
“I still don’t know when or why he got involved,” Campos said. “So, when I found out, I stopped him. Right now, we don’t have the right to do that. We don’t have anyone trained or approved to inspect fire codes.”
Las Clinicas Executive Director Andy Lopez said he tried to address the issue repeatedly with County Fire Marshal Dept. officials, until finally, he relented. The discussions led to County officials approving support that will help clinic officials address the problem.
“The former fire marshal, Jerome Sanchez, retained jurisdiction over the sprinkler and fire suppression system,” Lopez said. “Since then, there were five different fire marshals that were terminated or resigned, and the last fire marshal didn’t want anything to do with the project. He wanted to turn it over to the state fire marshal.”
The only problem with the County relinquishing control is that the building was built based on the codes Sanchez provided and those were different than codes used by the state.
“But the building we built was based on the requirements that the fire marshal, Jerome Sanchez, laid down and those conflicted with the state fire codes,” Lopez said.
The County authorized a fix that could move the clinic closer to securing an opening date, but whether it happens remains to be seen.
“So trying to resolve that, we got the County to allow us to hire an independent third-party inspector to inspect the system as-is,” Lopez said. “We were given a verbal approval, the next step is for the County fire marshal to approve that particular inspection and send it to Construction Industries, so we can get our certificate of occupancy.”
Current County Fire Marshal Carlos Esquibel said he isn’t sure if Sanchez used the wrong codes or the codes changed during the time it took to build the structure.
“There is not too much of a difference,” Esquibel said. “When Jerome was here, he had some credentials for building inspections, so what he approved, I am not sure if the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) fire codes changed or not. I think this building took a couple of years for everything to get done and those codes change and they get revised just like anything.”
He said authorizing the third-party inspector to review the codes was necessary to ensure the safety of the public, patients and personnel that will work at the site.
The fire marshal has since approved the sprinkler system and fire codes and they are waiting for the final Construction Industries inspection.
The architectural firm that designed the structure, Albuquerque-based Siegel Design Architects, LLC, said getting approval for the fire codes authorized by Sanchez didn’t require any structural changes.
Some could consider the delay ironic, considering Lopez and his Board of directors passed up an opportunity to secure a USDA loan, in favor of the Finance Authority loan, which Lopez said was quicker to process.
The delay has meant the nonprofit healthcare center has not been able to expand its services, as originally planned.
“The building has laid idle for at least four months, going back and forth on this particular issue,” Lopez said. “It has impacted our ability to see more clients. We allowed for the expansion, so providers could be available and that allows us to triple the size of the facility.
Once the 6,700-square-foot clinic opens for business, Lopez expects to add about 11 positions, which includes two full-time behavioral health specialists, a full-time doctor and one full-time nurse practitioner.
The clinic will expand access to health care for the residents that live in the unincorporated communities such as Gallina, Medanales and Youngsville.
Lopez said the builder was working with Construction Industry personnel to schedule an inspection, but the date has not been set.