The new year finds a familiar challenge for members of the Nye County Commission and its most outspoken personality, Leo Blundo.

The object of such frustration and fascination is the county’s shuttered Pahrump Medical Center. Blundo spent much of the past year trying to sell it off in the name of bringing much-needed medical professionals to the under-served community.

Which would have seemed admirable and altruistic had he not been so anxious to forward his friends at troubled medical not-for-profit Silver State Health Services, whose recent history reeks of fiscal mismanagement and incompetence. Surely by remarkable coincidence, the commissioner’s wife, outspoken anti-mask activist Melissa Blundo, has been linked to Silver State as a “Regional Director, Nye County.” Her name appeared on a voided check from Silver State partner Freedom Medical Group for $1,985.38.

Commissioner Blundo has also benefited from Silver State’s political largess.

Of the $71,149 Blundo reported receiving in 2021 in campaign contributions, $40,000 came in four $10,000 donations, including one to his own campaign. Did I mention he operates a struggling restaurant?

Of the remaining three donations, one of note is a $10,000 contribution registered on June 1 from Silver State Health Services. There’s also a check for $2,500 from 7373 Peak LLC, a company located at a Desert Inn Road mansion in Las Vegas. Both companies are linked to Blundo’s friend Rick Saga.

In November, the medical facility was appraised at $1.9 million with a sealed-bid auction planned for December. The rush to sell the medical facility, which sits on 3.83 acres, slowed substantially after Silver State’s troubled financial history was exposed. Its initial approval for a $4 million federal mental health services grant has been put on hold pending the findings of an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which sources report focuses on the actions of one of the nonprofit’s managing members, Rick Saga.

More delays followed after a Jan. 19 meeting in which the commissioners learned that a new Fair Market Value appraisal placed the worth of the property at just $1.69 million. That’s quite a dip in a matter of a few weeks — especially given the fact that the cost to build and replace the facility is estimated by county officials at $2.85 million.

Clearly anxious to get the deal done, Blundo expressed frustration mixed with his own brand of humor. With his colleagues taking a more measured approach, and Commissioner and real estate veteran Debra Strickland calling for a closer look, Blundo playfully suggested getting a can of gasoline and burning the facility down.

Blundo kids. He kids about arson.

When the subject of the medical facility sale returned during the Feb. 1 meeting, Blundo quickly moved to yet another iteration of appraised value, $1.91 million approved by the commission.

“I pray we have bidders that are going after each other, I really do,” Blundo said. 

Not so fast, Strickland replied. Market fluctuations aside, she reminded her fellow elected officials of that nearly $3 million replacement cost.

“Well, it’s the same conversation we’ve been having about replacement value, versus appraised value currently in this market,” Strickland said. “… I just don’t want us to undercut ourselves on the potential for this property. And we may only get one bidder. … I would like us to consider pumping that up some more. I’m not asking for a lot, but I’m wondering if we shouldn’t consider putting some more meat on that bone.”

Added Commissioner Bruce Jabbour, “We would love to see some more facilities in Nye County for medical, but we also shouldn’t suffer a loss, a tremendous loss.”

Softening her stance, Strickland said she would sign off on the sale if the minimum price was $2 million. Suddenly, the deal was revived.

Then Nye County Treasurer John Prudhont chimed in, reminding officials that under his reading of the applicable Nevada law, the commission could not sell the facility for less than the replacement cost — approximately $850,000 more than the price they had just agreed upon.

But the deal was done, Blundo interjecting, “You make it so expensive to the point where nobody’s going to bid.”

The commission, with one member absent, voted unanimously to approve the $2 million starting bid. An auction is planned for some time in the spring.

From all appearances, someone is in line to scoop up a fully functioning medical facility at a bargain price.

Correction at 1:50 p.m. on 2/15/22. This column was updated to correct the spelling of John Prudhont's name.

John L. Smith is an author and longtime columnist. He was born in Henderson and his family’s Nevada roots go back to 1881. His stories have appeared in Time, Reader’s Digest, The Daily Beast, Reuters, Ruralite and Desert Companion, among others. He also offers weekly commentary on Nevada Public Radio station KNPR.