By Al Litman

Mayor Al Litman

As mayor of Mesquite, I often get asked what I can do to bring either another hospital to Mesquite, or additional medical services.

Currently I am hearing a candidate for city council talking about how they will bring these services to Mesquite. I also hear how we need another supermarket, but that’s another issue I’ll address.

Nevada, like a majority of states, requires a Certificate Of Need (CON), which is a legal document that all hospitals and other healthcare providers in Nevada must submit to the state regulatory agency that licenses medical facilities before making any proposed changes to existing medical facilities or adding a new one that costs over $2 million.

In a rural community such as Mesquite, it was necessary for the developers of our existing hospital to do this back in 2002, so they could build Mesa View here. 

It wasn’t too difficult as we had no hospital and the ARCON facility had closed its doors. The reason for the (CON) is to prevent another hospital or medical facility from opening up and causing the existing facility to go out of business because of the limited number of available clients. 

Of course, if we were Las Vegas, Henderson, Reno or North Las Vegas, it would be fairly easy to obtain the (CON) because of their large populations, and the fact they are growing at a rapid rate. 

I won’t elaborate on the rules and regulations as you can find them in our Nevada Revised Statutes.  Of course, another existing hospital could acquire ours, but that’s between private parties, not the city.

On to the supermarket issue.  Here’s how it works. It starts with any market chain interested in expanding to a new location. Major companies use site selectors to find new locations. This applies to not only supermarkets, but most large companies. Because expanding or relocating is an expensive and often risky proposition, CEOs don’t leave much to chance. 

They follow a strict process of nomination and elimination. They crunch numbers, pull data and cover all the bases. When it comes to choosing their relationship partner, it’s nothing personal, and all business. 

We have just seen this with Crown Cork and Seal. Every business is unique. A medical equipment manufacturer will have different site requirements than a brewery. Site selectors have a list of must haves when looking for a new site or location.

I’ll touch on a few of them. Number one is labor force. Companies can’t do anything without employees. When it comes to taking on the risk of moving to a new location, most businesses need to know that they will be able to find the qualified help they need.

Accessibility is important. Companies want to be in the middle of the action. The more your location is connected to major markets, transportation routes and resources, the better your chances.

Available building and land are a prime consideration. Not all companies are looking for a sweeping expanse of bare earth. Some are actually more interested in saving money and moving into or renovating an existing building. Other considerations are utilities and infrastructure, incentives and exemptions, future trends in growth,  and quality of life.

Mesquite will, at some point, meet the needs of a major supermarket company, as it has with some of our existing companies.

As I see it, available, suitable land, and an available labor force are all that stands in the way, along with affordable housing for its employees.

We as a city will do our best to bring about affordable housing. City-owned land that can be developed in the size needed for a supermarket will be more difficult, and until we have adequate, affordable housing, we are not going to get that market.

Al Litman is mayor of the city of Mesquite.