Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Dept. (EMNRD) Cabinet Secretary Sarah Cottrell Propst joined a roundtable hosted Aug. 18 by Senator Martin Heinrich with Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury, U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm and business and union leaders. The event highlighted New Mexico’s rapid progress in expanding renewable energy generation and transmission and explored how federal programs, regulations and support can promote additional transmission line construction. That would create local jobs, reduce emissions and help meet the energy milestones laid out in the Energy Transition Act.

Pictured, from left: Fernando Martinez, executive director, Renewable Energy Transmission Authority; U.S. Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury; Mike Garland, CEO, Pattern Energy; U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich; U.S. Dept. of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm; Bob Busch, chair of the Renewable Energy Transmission Authority; Brian Condit, business manager, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 611; EMNRD Cabinet Secretary Sarah Cottrell Propst; and Sarah Webster, vice president, Pattern Energy.

Photo courtesy of Kitchell Corp.

Phoenix Children’s Hospital broke ground June 30 on a $39.9-million emergency department and expanded medical campus in Avondale, Ariz. The new campus will serve families in the West Valley and includes a 35,000-sq-ft freestanding emergency department. The Southwest Campus also will feature a multi-specialty clinic expected to serve 40,000 children a year. The clinic will more than double the number of patient rooms to 68 from 27. The facility will offer access to physicians in more than 75 pediatric subspecialties. There are more than 30,000 pediatric emergency visits each year in the Avondale area, and demand for children’s specialty care is also on the rise, with the pediatric population in the West Valley projected to grow from 400,000 today to nearly 500,000 by 2030. The Southwest Campus is expected to open by spring 2023. HKS is the designer, and Kitchell Corp. is the builder.