The facility in Las Soleras is still under construction.
The new Presbyterian Santa Fe Medical Center is coming to town, and it's hiring. The jobs range widely, but hospital representatives tell SFR most of its new workers will be nurses.
"We're looking at a group of anywhere from 250 employees to 350 new employees to get the hospital opened," said Paul Gonzales, director of human resources. "It'll be a range of clinical as well as non-clinical roles."
Clinical jobs include doctors, nurses and other people directly involved with patient care. About 120 nurses are needed at the Southside facility, according to Chief Nursing Officer Terri Marney. Non-clinical roles include food workers in a cafeteria and housekeepers.
When asked the starting salary for both clinical and non-clinical workers, Gonzales said "to give [an] average would not do it justice." He also couldn't affirm that workers would be making at least $11.40 an hour, the current minimum wage mandated for Santa Fe businesses by a city ordinance.
"I can't tell you the exact number," Gonzales said when asked if the jobs would pay at least $11.40. "I can tell you Presbyterian is committed to paying a fair wage and we'll go into that market accordingly."
After this story was published, hospital spokeswoman Kerri Dufault emailed SFR to say that the hospital will "certainly" meet the $11.40 minimum wage standard in Santa Fe.
The hospital is currently hiring for six physicians, including one general surgeon, one OB/GYN and four hospitalists, according Dufault. A New Mexico Health Care Workforce Committee report released last October found that New Mexico was short 139 primary care doctors in 2016, a gap almost totally concentrated in rural areas.
Interested applicants can show up to job fairs taking place on the last Monday of each month, starting next week for clinical jobs on March 26 from 2:30 to 6:30 pm at the Inn at Santa Fe (8376 Cerrillos Road). Hiring fairs for clinical jobs are planned for April 30 and May 29, with events for non-clinical as well as clinical jobs will begin June 25 and also take place on July 30 and Aug. 27.
According to a press release from Presbyterian, the new medical center scheduled to open in the fall of 2018 will have 30 private inpatient beds, a birthing unit with six beds, specialty medical services such as neurology, obstetrics and gynecology, cardiology and more. It will also feature an emergency department and urgent care facility.
A start date for employment depends on the position, Gonzales said. For example, clinical workers could start months before opening, while non-clinical workers could start closer to the fall.
Presbyterian Healthcare Services will be Santa Fe's second general hospital. The company's medical clinic and urgent care already provide nearly 400 jobs in the city while Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center employs 2,150 people, according to a list published by the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce.
Editor's note: This story was updated with new information from Presbyterian Santa Fe Medical Center about its minimum wage.
