[Editor's Note: The Grant County Commission work session on Sept. 6 and the regular meeting on Sept. 8, were both long meetings, so this series of articles will be numerous. Part 7 gets into presentations from Gila Regional Medical Center and Sheriff Frank Gomez. The previous articles are linked at the bottom of this article.]

By Mary Alice Murphy

Following the public hearing and public input at the Grant County Commission regular meeting, Gila Regional Medical Center Interim Chief Executive Officer Greg Brickner presented the monthly update from July. He said it was great to be back in the community. [Editor's Note: He served as interim chief financial officer for several months.] "I thank everyone for the welcome back. It's incredible. I was to thank you for the recovery proclamation."

"This is National Suicide Awareness Week," Brickner said. "It's a good reminder of the new 988 phone number. It works just like 911; it connects the caller with individuals who are crisis interventionists for mental health and other crisis needs."

He said it was good to see the hard work that continued while he was gone. "Today GRMC is a story of growth. The critical access designation helped us and allows investment in the facility. These small investments are starting to build. We have recently brought in a bunch of new computers for our providers. We recently upgraded our phone system and improved bandwidth in our clinics. Next week, we will have the very first employee clock-in on our new HR (Human Resources) system. We're also making some large investments. We finished the roof this summer. This fall, we are adding 3-D mammography, which will bring us to best practice and best technology. This story of growth is while hospitals around the country are fighting for survival. Many hospitals are reacting by shrinking or closing service lines. We're in the fight as well. We are fighting to keep our Cancer Center open and back in house from an out-of-facility contractor. We are pleased that we have Karen de Genevieve back on staff seeing existing cancer patients. We are in the process of contracting with oncologists, so we can complete the process of bringing the cancer services in house and begin seeing new patients again. Our goal is to begin seeing new patients by the end of September or early October."

Dr. Noman Ratliff has begun using a new diagnostic tool for determining heart disease. "There's a video on our Facebook page, and it's had more than 5,000 views. We're also investing in some surgical equipment for Dr. (James "Butch) Rosser to perform common bioduct procedures in the hospital. We're working hard to open the smaller pools at the Billy Casper Wellness Center, so members can use the pools and we can have them available for physical therapy. We are purchasing new equipment for the Billy Casper Wellness Center for the PT section. Right now, we are taking patients from PT into the Wellness Center to use the equipment there, which turns it into a health care center and due to CDC rules, they have to wear masks. To help alleviate that, we are purchasing duplicate equipment, so we can remove that restriction. We're also working hard to recruit new physicians and providers to the community, while keeping harmony among our current physicians and providers. There's a nationwide shortage, so we're in the mix to convince them to stay here or to relocate to Silver City. We have resumed the classes for new parents and expecting mothers. Our growth is not without difficulties. We booked a loss in July, due to increased contract labor costs, but we made a recovery in August. Keep in mind that last year we had losses, but we managed them so it's not sustaining. We've been doing all this work and striving for growth while maintaining our 4-Star quality. We are one of six 4-or-5-star hospitals within 200 miles. Grant County can be proud of that, as there are 66 hospitals within 200 miles and to be one of six is incredible."

Although he said he could not comment on an investigation into a tragic incident outside the hospital the day before, he thanked the Silver City Police Department for handling it professionally, as well as thanking staff for handling the difficult situation.

District 4 Commissioner Billy Billings welcomed Brickner back. "It's good to have you back. And thank you for that report you just gave. It gives me hope for the future of Gila Regional Medical Center to have you there and the staff we have, so thanks." District 5 Commissioner Harry Browne and District 3 Commissioner Alicia Edwards echoed the thanks for his return.

The next article addresses the report from Sheriff Frank Gomez. He began by saying that advanced training continues with staff attending and scheduled to attend specialized trainings, including field training officer, school resource officer, advanced interview techniques, advanced homicide investigation and crime scene management, as well as breath alcohol instructor school. The department has completed the first part of the biennium training and will hold two more sessions in October. Lt. Manuel Maldonado and Sgt. Detective Jordan attended the crisis intervention team training in Pittsburg, PA, and both received certifications as nationally recognized CIT coordinators. "The ability to directly meet with and gain insight from nationally recognized experts will enhance our capabilities greatly."

On the topic of court security, the District Court continues to operate in a more in-person mode with increasing dockets.

Gomez reported that call volume remains steady with increasing time spent on animal complaints and welfare issues in addition to the more traditional law enforcement issues.

He noted that his department assisted in several rescues in the Mimbres Valley due to swollen watercourses. "The recent US Highway 180 West bridge washout exposed a critical issue in our abilities to maintain service in such situations, because of a lack of redundancy in the road infrastructure. The highway is the sole ingress-egress from Silver City to the Gila Valley without a nearly 100-mile detour."

He thanked Freeport-McMoRan and New Mexico Department of Transportation and others, so that the Gila Valley was not effectively isolated from Silver City. He said the same infrastructure weakness exists with power, as there is only a single long transmission line from Silver City, which travels through the back country to the Gila substation.

On Operation Stonegarden, he said Grant County Sheriff's Office field activities continue in Hachita and surrounding areas, to help out U.S. Border Patrol, which continues to have staff shortages.

"We are expending the remaining fiscal year 2020 funds for residual equipment purchases and we expect to close this cycle out by the end of the year," Gomez said. "Fiscal year 2021 field operations continue. Staff will attend a meeting in Deming on fiscal year 2022 awards and the anticipated opening of the cycle next spring. Lt. Burns has requested increases in the Grant County award amount for purposes of covering extreme inflationary factors in equipment purchase needs. In the past, Stonegarden covered only a 1.45 percent fringe benefit reimbursement factor for overtime. We know the actual employee fringe benefit cost is much higher. Lt. Burns has increased the request to 7.5 percent which is more realistic to cover the county's actual cost of the overtime expense. While this may seem trivial, the parasitic loss has sapped precious dollars from our budget for many years."

Reporting on the motor vehicle fleet, he announced the department has a total of five new patrol vehicles arriving at the dealer or in stages of being outfitted. "We hope to expend both the New Mexico legislative Junior Bill and county capital outlay funds to purchase two more vehicles before the end of the year. The up-to 15 percent inflation factor has affected us significantly. Many grants are applied for 18-24 months in advance, leaving us short of funding when the actual time of expenditure occurs. We have been creative in covering the shortages on these vehicle-related purchases. It requires staff to constantly re-evaluate costs, funding sources and budgets."

Gomez said the department is working on a budget adjustment request with the U.S. Forest Service to expend remaining residual funds on an OHV trailer and OHV safety equipment for staff to use when operating the off-highway vehicles. "We expect the next USFS contract patrol cycle award to be announced in November."

He reported the department is completing background checks on two candidates, with one certified officer—Tony Fetty—hired and already on the job.

"DARE programing has begun in area schools, for Cobre, Silver and Calvary schools. Lt. Maldonado and the DARE staff are working on bicycle giveaways for student achievement," Gomez said.

He talked about the continuing CIT training, which consists of initial training and reinforcement of the concepts in follow-up training. "We are currently planning more basic and advanced training this fall and are on track to expend much of the awarded New Mexico Supreme Court funds. Please be aware that we are including the Grant County Detention Center in our plans to complete the basic CIT training process."

With State Homeland Security grant funding, GCSO has purchased handheld radios and is equipping one patrol vehicle. Lt. Burns is now working with Emergency Manager Justin Gojkovich, because this funding is usually administered by an emergency manager. "This program has significant potential for Grant County, as it may fund a variety of projects that improve or harden infrastructure, facilities and services," Gomez said.

He then went into a summary of statistics. In August, officers answered 613 dispatch calls and had 744 self-initiated responses. Also, in the month of August they responded to 22 domestic violence incidents, 11 accidents, with one serious accident. "We have responded to 274 crashes since January."

With no questions, the commissioners went into the regular meeting agenda.

The next and final article will address the review at the work session of the regular meeting agenda and the decisions made at the regular meeting.

For the previous articles, please visit: https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/74190-grant-county-commission-holds-work-session-090622-part-1 ; https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/74224-grant-county-commission-holds-work-session-090622-part-2; https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/74257-grant-county-commission-holds-work-session-090622-part-3; https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/74283-grant-county-commission-holds-work-session-090622-part-4; https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/74382-grant-county-commission-holds-work-session-090622-and-regular-meeting-090822-part-5 and https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/74408-grant-county-commission-holds-work-session-090622-and-regular-meeting-090822-part-6 .