A. Any town incorporated, organized and operating under a special act of the legislature may, by resolution or ordinance:

(1) own, maintain and operate hospitals, sanitariums and other institutions for the care of sick or indigent persons;

(2) issue negotiable bonds for the construction of a hospital, sanitarium or other institution; or

(3) upon such conditions and terms as the governing body of the town may determine:

(a) delegate the operation and maintenance of the hospital, sanitarium or other institution to any person, corporation or association as it selects; or

(b) lease the hospital, sanitarium or other hospital to any person, corporation or association for the care of sick or indigent persons, provided that the lease may be terminated by the governing body of the town without cause upon one hundred eighty days' notice after the first three years of the lease.

B. The provisions of Sections 3-54-1 through 3-54-3 NMSA 1978 relating to the leasing of municipal property are not applicable to this section.

History: 1953 Comp., § 14-45-5, enacted by Laws 1965, ch. 300; 1973, ch. 258, § 136; 2001, ch. 291, § 3.

The 2001 amendment, effective June 15, 2001, added the proviso in Subparagraph A(3)(b), and substituted "3-54-1 through 3-54-3 NMSA 1978" for "14-55-1 through 14-55-3 NMSA 1953" in Subsection B.

Pleading. — Where a hospital seeks a stay of execution on a judgment, without bond, because an appeal has been taken, and the motion relies upon an affidavit by the hospital administrator which states that the movant is a "county-municipal hospital," the affidavit is deficient where it fails to state either that a city-county organization operated the hospital or that it was not leased to some other entity. Robinson v. Memorial Gen. Hosp., 1982-NMCA-167, 99 N.M. 60, 653 P.2d 891.