Sen. Brian Fernandez abstained on funding for his employer, then voted for a budget carrying $3 million of it
Based on reporting by Nicole Ludden for Arizona Agenda, published March 13, 2026.
Democratic Sen. Brian Fernandez works for Onvida Health, the Yuma hospital system formerly called Yuma Regional Medical Center, the Arizona Agenda reported. Within about a month of starting there, he filed a bill to send state money to a new medical school partnership between Onvida and the University of Arizona.
Republican Sen. Tim Dunn later carried a bill with the same language and a $7 million appropriation. Fernandez pitched the funding in committee but, after talking with Senate lawyers, abstained when it reached the full Senate and filed a Rule 30 disclosure saying his hospital job might overlap with the bill. The Senate passed it; the House did not.
Cut to $3 million, the funding then appeared in the state budget, directed to the city of Yuma for a nonprofit hospital with at least 400 beds. Fernandez voted for the budget, and in January the Yuma City Council routed the money to Onvida.
At a Board of Regents meeting, university officials praised Fernandez's role, and UA President Suresh Garimella called the program "in some ways, his brainchild."
Fernandez told the Agenda there was no conflict. He argued that as one of many Onvida employees he belongs to a legal class of at least 10 people and would receive no material financial benefit from the money. He said he abstained earlier out of caution after consulting counsel, did not personally lobby for the funding, and is not a registered lobbyist. He gave his title as vice president of external affairs; his LinkedIn page lists vice president of government relations.
"It's not a balancing test, it's whether a member has a direct financial pecuniary interest," Fernandez wrote. Onvida said the partnership predated the state money and that its code of conduct bars using company resources to influence official actions.