Introductory paragraph: The Los Alamos County Council held a work session on May 12, 2026 at Fire Station No. 3 in White Rock, with all seven councilors present. The meeting included three proclamations, a briefing from the Transportation Board and the Planning and Zoning Commission, an in-depth traffic safety update, and approval of April 2026 budget hearing minutes. Public comment focused on the impending closure of the maternity ward at Los Alamos Medical Center.
So I think we're ready to go now. So want to welcome everybody to the uh May 12th 2026 County Council uh work session. And we're here at the fire department in uh White Rock tonight. Uh so tonight's meeting will be in hybrid format, like all of our meetings are. So we have people here in person. We also have people joining us remotely using Zoom. Um so you can use Zoom via computer or other devices. We also have phone lines available. Um so we'll be having couple public comments uh accepted at the beginning of the meeting for items that are not on the agenda. I believe we do have some people interested in making comments tonight during that time. It's coming up very shortly. Um just ask that uh people making comments um limit their time to three minutes or otherwise directed. Um and please address their comments to the chair and focus on whatever issue they want to have considered. Um during public comments, uh Mr. Briel will be looking for commenters uh on uh Zoom. And if you're on Zoom, please uh if you can use your full name soon to properly address, we appreciate that. Um I think the other thing is we want to try to conclude the meeting no later than 10 p.m. Uh tonight. So we'll be checking our progress at nine if we're still meeting at that time. So now we're on to item um continue on item one opening enroll calls. So I think we have actually all seven counselors here in person. So let the record show that all seven counselors are here present at the Farst Nation. Uh then if you were willing and able, uh please join us in the fledge. Wow. Um, for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice or okay. With that, then we're on to public comments. So if you're interested in making public comment, you're present, please uh come up to the table here in the middle, and you'll have to press the uh the button that looks like a person uh on there. So anybody please come forward and just um if you wouldn't mind stating your name and then uh when when you get up to the so the clerk can record your name for the record. Yeah. And make my uh move the microphone a little bit closer. Hi, okay. Uh I'm Catherine Bourne with the Ducamba Foundation, here on behalf of the community who is upset with the closure of the labor and delivery maternity ward in Los Alamos Medical Center. Scheduled to close June 30, 2026. This means that when a person goes into labor, the drive will be one hour to Santa Fe, more in traffic, or 45 minutes or more to Espaniola. On behalf of the community, I would like to thank Nicole O'Daniel for starting a petition regarding Life Point and Marie O'Neal of Los Alamos Reporter for writing the article about the petition and sounding the alarm. But I'm also here as a person who 18 years ago gave birth to my second child in less than 15 minutes. I wouldn't have not made it to the hospital in time if it was that far. Although the closure is a decision of a private company, this county does not control. Our research shows us that there is a tremendous amount the county can do about the situation, and we can discuss those options. They range from pressure tactics to subsidizing a competitor at life point. Um when we think about what a maternity ward costs compare it to what could become a PR disaster. I apologize for framing a roadside childbirth tragedy as a PR disaster, but it's what it would be. It would destroy our country, our county's reputation for a decade. It's a massive liability in Lannel's quest to hire 1300 people and take a moment to consider the financial implications of what it would look like if Lanel had 1,300 fewer employees in one year than it has today. People who simply fed up with the commute, the traffic, the healthcare desert, and the $30,000 helicopter ride the patient has to pay for. The attrition of this one issue alone has a measurable impact, far beyond a few million dollars for a maternity ward. Um in closing, I will say there are things we can do to fight Life Point Health, and we do have the money to do it. We just need to row in the same direction. Thank you for letting me comment.