Exceptional Community Hospital breaks ground in Farmington

Local dignitaries and Exceptional Healthcare Inc. staff break ground on the Exceptional Community Hospital on a windy Tuesday afternoon in Farmington. (David Edward Albright/Tri-City Record)

Bruce McVeigh, chief operating officer of Exceptional Healthcare Inc., hosted the groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday in Farmington. (David Edward Albright/Tri-City Record)

Acknowledging many local dignitaries from Farmington, Bloomfield and Aztec, as well as San Juan County and San Juan College, McVeigh thanked everyone for attending the event, which included refreshments and colorful flower bouquets.

The hospital will include 24/7 hospital and emergency services, private inpatient rooms, a full radiology suite with digital diagnostic imaging, an in-house laboratory, an inpatient pharmacy, and telemedicine for specialty consultations.

“It's an in-house med-surg ward with nine very private medical surgical rooms,” McVeigh said, adding that they kept the rooms private to “really do something unique for patients.”

Bigger rooms with pullout sleepers will accommodate family members for overnight stays with their loved ones, McVeigh said.

“We'll make the beds for you … feed you for free … do your laundry if we need to. We'll give you soaps and towels to stay there,” he said, adding, “I don't know what other hospital system does that … and, I've been doing medicine for 40 years.”

Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, McVeigh said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

“I can assure you that people we’re going to hire and the model we built in our company's ethos that we put forth to our employees … you're going to see that they will lose themselves in supporting the people of this town,” he said.

McVeigh said the journey began about four years ago when he, along with the chief executive officer and two others, drove throughout Arizona looking at rural markets to determine where they wanted to go next.

He said Farmington came on their radar in early 2022 and they closed on the 10-acre property in 2023. Financing came through U.S. Eagle Federal Credit Union.

They worked closely with the Farmington mayor, city manager and the economic development director during the development process, McVeigh said.

“This project, though, is not really about the building. It's going to be really about the people we're going to bring here to provide health care,” he said.

The 20,850-square-foot facility, a roughly $18 million project, is one of six currently underway by Exceptional Healthcare Inc.

“We're bringing in different service lines via telehealth on the market and so that may increase,” McVeigh said.

All insurance plans as well as Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare will be accepted. The hospital will also honor patients’ in-network benefits for emergency services.

“It will really shine as a beacon of another way to get health support and give people choices,” McVeigh said.

The project is being built by BMH Construction of Dallas, with Alex Mahboubi as the project manager.

Addressing the crowd, Saeed Mahboubi, chief executive officer, said, “about the only thing he left out was what are we all about.”

Mahboubi, who said he received a master’s degree in architecture and environmental design from the University of Colorado, said becoming an architect fulfilled one of his dreams.



Saeed Mahboubi, CEO of Exceptional Healthcare Inc., said the company is a family-operated venture. (David Edward Albright/Tri-City Record)

Around 2009, he hooked up with some doctors, with whom he completed a few small projects. Mahboubi said he eventually persuaded them to start a company in 2015 with a little below zero revenue.

“That means every one of us had to cough up some money to keep it going,” he said, adding that last year they sold the Texas part of the company for “some pretty good bucks.”

“We could have all walked away and retired, very rich and you'd never see us again … but that was not meant to be,” Mahboubi said.

Their goal is to continue providing service where it’s needed and where communities are in need of health care options.

“So I talked to my partners, which is very difficult because you know the doctors are very greedy,” he said to a chuckling crowd. “I talked him out of taking the money out of the pot. Walking away, I got them to take exactly zero.”

The money is invested in the 20 or so projects that they have coming. Mahboubi said there is a good chance they will have four more hospitals in New Mexico. Currently they have four in Arizona and plan to build more in Oklahoma, Wyoming, South Dakota and Utah.

“My son is the contractor, my daughter-in-law is here … she's filming me right now. So we're a family company – that's the core,” he said.

Mahboubi finished on a humorous note by telling everyone they were invited to state Rep. Rod Montoya’s house for food and drinks after the ceremony.

New Mexico Rep. Rod Montoya (R-District 1) said more health care options are needed and greatly valued. (David Edward Albright/Tri-City Record)

Montoya said, “I’m glad to have this investment in the community, especially in health care. It's been a priority for the city of Farmington and for the county to diversify our economy.”

He said bringing retirees to the area and outdoor recreation are two of the ways to diversify and promote economic development, with options for health care a priority for both sectors.

State representative Mark Duncan said that New Mexico lost approximately 500 doctors last year. He said this will be one way to bring some of them back.



“And we're grateful you're here … grateful that you decided to invest in our community and in our state,” Duncan said.

New Mexico Rep. Mark Duncan (R-District 2) said the state lost about 500 doctors and the new Exceptional Community Hospital will help bring some back. (David Edward Albright/Tri-City Record)

Javier Olguin, owner of Javier Construction LLC of Farmington, said they specialize in metal framing, drywall, plaster and stucco. He said they expect to be on the job in about two months.

Winding up the ceremony, McVeigh said that they will be hiring about 115 employees. He said that includes physicians, nurses, dietary and educational-based service providers.

Speaking with Tri-City Record, Mahboubi said, “actually, this is a challenging project … it is important for me to preserve those rock formations, the terrain – to preserve as much as possible. I think we're able to keep most of it.”

He said some foundation issues arose because of the terrain, but there were resolved creatively by their engineers.

The Exceptional Community Hospital building site is bordered by sandstone formations on the east and north perimeter. (David Edward Albright/Tri-City Record)