Pahrump Medical Center valued at $1.8 million

Following a June 2 vote by the Nye County Commission to pursue the potential sale of the county-owned Pahrump Medical Center, an agenda item regarding the fair market value appraisal for that facility went before the board on Tuesday, July 20. That appraisal, conducted by Fidelity Appraisals, came in at $1.8 million and a public hearing was necessary in order for the county to move forward with the possibility of a sale.

The public hearing did not see much comment by members of the community but it did elicit quite a lot of discourse between commissioners, each of whom have their own ideas on just how that building should be utilized for the biggest benefit to the county.

Commissioner Bruce Jabbour, who remained silent during the June 2 discussion on the concept of a sale but who voted against the move, kicked off the deliberations, first reminding everyone of his stance against selling off the Pahrump Medical Center. He noted that the appraisal had come in at what he felt was to be an expected valuation but he was not pleased with the notion of the county divesting itself of the facility. His main concern, he said, was that building a new office to house expanding county staff would cost more than the $1.8 million the county could get if it does indeed decide to sell the Pahrump Medical Center.

“It was my understanding that this building, this facility, was going to be utilized for county personnel, because they had outgrown their area,” Jabbour said. “If we were to sell this property and then realize in the next couple of years, ‘Oh my gosh, staff has really outgrown their areas and we need to rebuild, we need to replace, we need to find,’ we are going to be paying three to four times more… So we’re talking about $3.5 to $5.5 million dollars… and where is that money coming from? That money’s coming from the people of the county… Mathematically, it doesn’t make sense to sell this property at this time, but to utilize it for the county and for the county needs.”

An audience member, Joe Mambretti, then stepped forward to provide the only public comment made on the subject, explaining that he is a general builder and essentially affirming what Jabbour had said.

The property includes two separate office buildings, one with 11,953 square feet of space and another with 4,980 square feet of space, for a total of 16,933 square feet. With a $1.8 million valuation, that would equate to just over $106 per square foot. Mambretti said the square footage cost to build a new commercial building is $130 on the low end and the cost could be quite a bit higher than that, adding that such costs will only rise more as time goes on.

Nye County Commissioner Chair Debra Strickland interjected that currently, the county is building for $200 per square foot and at that price, the county would be able to build a facility that would be roughly 9,000 square feet. She remarked that she believed it would be better for the county to divest itself of old assets to create new assets and in this particular case, she would prefer to see any expansion of space for staff to be located in the Calvada Eye, where many Nye County government offices are now located.

“We have a huge need of placing other personnel and I would hope that we would do so around the Calvada Eye itself,” Strickland asserted. “If we could put 9,000 square foot within the Calvada Eye, where we could have all our people together, I think that’s just good business… I would love to see that money (from a sale) repurposed into new facilities that will last us just that much longer in the future of Nye County.”

Commissioner Donna Cox chimed in as well, touching on the possibility of the county leasing the property out, which would create revenue and allow the county to retain the building. Then in the future, if values were to rise, she said the county could reap a greater benefit. However, leasing the full property has apparently proven difficult since Healthcare Partners of Nevada vacated the facility in 2017.

Cox also clarified whether the county would be required to sell for just $1.8 million, or if the property could be sold for more. Blundo explained that if the facility were to go to auction, the fair market value would be the minimum amount that the county would accept but of course, the county could accept more. Nye County Assistant Manager Lorena Dellinger also noted that the agenda item before the board that afternoon would not authorize an actual sale. Another agenda item would have to be brought forward in order for the board to take some official action on selling the property.

“What I see is the potential value for the community, more medical services,” commissioner Leo Blundo, who originally brought the concept to the board, said. “Whatever we manage to bring to this community, believe me, that’s important to the people here, we just don’t have enough.” At the June 2 meeting, Blundo made it clear that he would like to see the Pahrump Medical Center sold to a health care company that would then be able to offer additional services and that was the line he himself would like to continue to push toward. The funds that would come from the sale could then be used to build a new county office building, which, he noted, are cheaper to build than medical facilities.

Commissioner Frank Carbone added his thoughts as well, stating that he had done walk-throughs at the Pahrump Medical Center in past years and the facility needs a lot of renovation, so he was hesitant to move any county staff into that location. “The building is old, the building needs to be renovated heavily. So whatever you can get for this building, at the highest rate that you can get, is a blessing because it would take us a lot of money to renovate that building if we want to use it,” Carbone declared.

During the item, Carbone also took a moment to make a disclosure regarding the board’s previous discussion of the potential sale, explaining that at that time, there were certain factors that some of the board members were not aware of, including himself. He noted that he did not know that Nye County Commissioner Leo Blundo’s wife had a connection to the company that had expressed interest in acquiring the Pahrump Medical Center at the June 2 meeting.

Blundo responded by stating that to his knowledge, his wife has not been employed by Silver State Health Services or compensated for any volunteer efforts she has performed on that company’s behalf and therefore, neither he or she have any pecuniary interest in the matter.

“This item at this time is to have this hearing, and we are not selecting any one particular person to sell it to at this juncture,” Blundo added. “This juncture is per the NRS, we have to make these findings. Again, I am making that disclosure in an abundance of caution.”

Blundo made the motion to accept the fair market value of $1.8 million, with a second from Carbone. The motion passed with all in favor.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com