RIO RANCHO, N.M.—Presbyterian Rust Medical Center opened Oct. 22 with Gov. Susana Martinez, Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) and Rio Rancho Mayor Thomas Swisstack in attendance at a ribbon-cutting ceremony, according to a news release from the medical center, which is part of Presbyterian Healthcare Services, Albuquerque.

The grand opening also featured more than 350 people, including Presbyterian employees, their friends and families and representatives of the National Dance Institute of New Mexico, dancing to the song “Party Rock Anthem” by the band LMFAO, according to the medical center's Facebook page, where a video of the choreographed dance can be found. The 68-bed, $190 million facility includes a 24-hour emergency department, acuity-adaptable rooms to reduce patient movement, and sound-absorbing ceilings, floors and walls. An on-site physician office building with space for 60 doctors is scheduled to open early next year, according to the release.

Kaiser is touting its new Ontario (Calif.) Medical Center as the “largest, greenest, and most technologically advanced ever built in the area.”

ONTARIO, Calif.—Kaiser Permanente Ontario Medical Center opened its doors Nov. 1 in a 224-bed facility that puts a lot of emphasis on trying to be environmentally friendly. The $550 million, 386,000-square-foot hospital is based on a Kaiser Permanente template that allows for changing practices and technologies, and is designed to meet California's seismic safety standards, according to a Kaiser Permanente news release. The hospital includes a 36-bed emergency department, a three-story, 160,000-square-foot medical office building and a seven-story parking garage. Environmentally friendly features include: carpet and furnishings made of recycled material; drought-resistant landscaping; energy-efficient lighting, electrical and plumbing systems; use of low volatile-organic-compound paint; and a white, heat-reflective roof to reduce cooling needs. The hospital also is the first medical center in the Kaiser Permanente system to have a fully integrated information technology system across the entire campus, according to the release. The hospital is “one of the largest, greenest, and most technologically advanced ever built in the area, and we are thrilled to be opening our doors,” said Greg Christian, executive director, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals/Health Plan, Fontana and Ontario, in the release.

BILLINGS, Mont.—A health plan owned by Montana hospitals will sell off its commercial health insurance business to a new competitor to satisfy the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust concerns with a $26.3 million deal with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana. A U.S. District Court judge in Billings approved the plan Nov. 14. In the deal at issue, five of the six hospital owners of New West Health Services agreed to move their employees' coverage to the Montana Blues plan from New West for six years and refrain from competing in the commercial insurance market in exchange for $26.3 million and two seats on the Blues board, according to the Justice Department complaint. The government alleged that the agreement would likely lead to New West getting out of the commercial insurance business entirely and lead to higher prices for consumers. Under the settlement, New West will sell its commercial insurance business to PacificSource Health Plans, Springfield, Ore., which does business in Oregon and Idaho, in order to ensure an effective competitor to the Blues, which the government calculated controls 43% to 75% of the commercial insurance business in the markets served by the five hospitals: Billings (Mont.) Clinic; Bozeman (Mont.) Deaconess Health Services; Community Medical Center, Missoula; Northern Montana Health Care, Havre; and St. Peter's Hospital, Helena. Over the past 13 years, the Justice Department said in the complaint, hospital-owned New West “has offered Montana residents a high-quality option for their health insurance, routinely pressuring Blue Cross to offer lower prices and better customer service.”

OLYMPIA, Wash.—A court ruling is forcing Washington state to temporarily repeal rules that seek to limit Medicaid coverage of emergency room visits for nonemergency care. A Thurston County judge said the state did not follow proper procedures when it established a three-visit annual limit. Officials with the Washington State Health Care Authority said they are going to rework the proposal through proper procedures and that the ruling from Judge Paula Casey did not address whether the larger effort is legal. “We remain under a legislative mandate to implement this limit and contribute savings to help relieve the state's extreme financial crisis,” Health Care Authority Director Doug Porter said in a statement. The American College of Emergency Physicians sued the state, arguing that the rules put patients at risk. The group noted that the list of nonemergencies include chest pain and kidney stones, and argued that the rules force people to self-diagnose. The ruling will allow groups to air concerns about the issue in public hearings. “We continue to be interested in a truly collaborative process to reduce unnecessary emergency room visits,” Nathaniel Schlicher, legislative chairman of the Washington chapter of the emergency physicians group, said in a statement. “We will not, however, stand by and allow a policy damaging to Medicaid enrollees to take effect.” About 3% of patients exceed the three-visit threshold in an average year, with a small group of clients exceeding 100 visits in what state officials characterize as a quest for drugs. The state projected that it would save more than $30 million over a two-year period.

DENVER—A group of critics who fought the sale of a foundation's stake in a joint venture with Nashville-based HCA in Colorado is suing Colorado Attorney General John Suthers for approving the sale to HCA last month. HCA closed the deal a day after Suthers approved the Colorado Health Foundation's sale of its 39% interest in the HealthOne joint venture for $1.45 billion. The critics allege in a complaint filed in Denver County Court that Suthers abused his discretion in his duty to oversee charitable trusts when he ruled that the sale should not be reviewed under the state's Hospital Transfer Act. No matter how the foundation and HCA describe the deal, it involved a change in control over not-for-profit hospital assets that falls under the act, according to the complaint. The critics also maintain that Suthers improperly allowed the Colorado Health Foundation to change its mission and charitable purpose without justification, and that the foundation's stated desire to diversify its investment portfolio by cashing out its interest in HealthOne is an insufficient reason. The plaintiffs asked the court to order Suthers to withdraw his approval and re-examine the sale under the Hospital Transfer Act. Suthers and his team were confident that their rulings on the sale will withstand court review, spokesman Mike Saccone said. The attorney general's office will respond to the specific points in the lawsuit in court, he said. The foundation does not comment on pending litigation, according to a spokeswoman, and HealthOne declined to comment.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—The city of Colorado Springs has six bidders for a long-term lease to operate the assets of the Memorial Health System, which is anchored by a 547-bed hospital of the same name and includes Memorial Hospital for Children. The city put out a request for proposals in mid-October with a Nov. 14 deadline, according to Memorial's website. Residents helped push the matter forward Nov. 1 by voting 62% to 38% to repeal a 1949 ordinance that requires the city to levy a tax to pay for any operating deficit the system incurs. After a “quiet period,” bidders are scheduled to present proposals before a city task force Dec. 2 and to the public Dec. 7. The task force is expected to choose one before the end of the year, and voters will likely be asked to approve the selection in the first quarter of 2012. The task force website posted seven nondisclosure agreements with interested parties: Centura Health, Community Health Systems, HCA-HealthOne, Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System, University of Colorado Hospital Authority, Memorial Health System itself and Banner Health. Banner Health is no longer interested, and the University of Colorado submitted a joint bid with the Poudre Valley Health System, according to published reports. HCA-HealthOne, which disclosed its proposal, offered $500 million upfront to cover 40 years of lease payments and a commitment to keep all of the system's 4,400 employees for at least six months. HCA-HealthOne, which recently became wholly owned by investor-owned HCA, also noted that the city and county would receive about $10 million a year in taxes if HCA-HealthOne was running the hospital instead of a tax-exempt system.

ROSWELL, N.M.—Community Health Systems, Franklin, Tenn., intends to buy 26-bed Roswell (N.M.) Regional Hospital, according to a news release, giving the chain both of the general acute-care hospitals in Roswell. A Community subsidiary has a definitive agreement in place to buy Roswell Regional. The company hopes to close the deal in the first quarter of 2012 subject to closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. Terms were not disclosed. Investor-owned Roswell Regional announced its exclusive negotiations with Community in September. Community already owns six hospitals in New Mexico, including 162-bed Eastern New Mexico MedicalCenter in Roswell. As a result of a whistle-blower complaint, the U.S. Justice Department has been investigating claims submitted by three of those hospitals, including Community's Roswell hospital, since 2007. The Justice Department, which joined the whistle-blower's False Claims Act case in 2009, alleges the hospitals submitted false claims for indigent care amounting to $27.5 million. The discovery phase of the case is nearly complete, and Community expects to file a motion for summary judgment, Wayne Smith, chairman, president and CEO, said last month. Community owns, leases or operates 131 hospitals in 29 states.