An open house celebration and community tours were held today in Shenandoah to celebrate the completion of a new surgery center that will improve health care opportunities for rural residents in Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri.
The surgery center is part of a large expansion and renovation at Shenandoah Medical Center made possible through a $25 million loan from USDA Rural Development’s Community Facilities Direct Loan Program.
“Access to quality health care means connecting doctors to patients in need of their expertise of care,” said Annette Sweeney, USDA Rural Development State Director in Iowa. “Helping modernize and build rural infrastructure such as this is an important emphasis at USDA Rural Development.”
In addition to the new surgery center, the project in Shenandoah also included a new, two-story medical clinic, renovation and expansion of the existing hospital, a new single entry point and registration/waiting area, an expanded emergency department and the relocation of the respiratory therapy area and lab improvements.
USDA Rural Development’s Community Facilities Direct Loan Program can be used to fund essential community services. For health care, this includes constructing, expanding or improving health care facilities such as hospitals, medical clinics, dental clinics and assisted-living facilities, as well as to purchase equipment. Public bodies, non-profit organizations and federally recognized tribes in rural areas and towns with up to 20,000 people are eligible for these loans.
Along with the Shenandoah Medical Center, and additional $81.85 million in Rural Development Community Facilities Direct Loan funding was awarded this past year to support health care project in rural Iowa. These projects included:
• St. Anthony Regional Hospital and Nursing Home - $13.35 million – construction of a new assisted living facility that will fill a gap in the continuum of care in Carroll.
• Methodist Manor Retirement Community - $3.3 million – construction of a replacement skilled care facility in Storm Lake.
• City of Waverly - Waverly Health Center - $27.1 million – addition and renovation of the existing critical access hospital in Waverly to allow for better operational flow and emergency services.
• Humboldt County Memorial Hospital - $13.9 million – replacement of the existing medical clinic and renovation of existing critical access hospital in Humboldt.
• Merrill Pioneer Community Hospital - $17.75 million – a new hospital and medical clinic to replace the existing critical access hospital in Rock Rapids.
• Community Hospital, Inc. - $3 million – HVAC and roof replacement for the critical access hospital in Hamburg.
• Friendship Home Association - $3 million – renovation of the existing skilled care and memory care facility in Audubon.
• Virginia Gay Hospital - $450,000 – purchase and installation of an emergency generator for the critical access hospital in Vinton.
“Ultimately, long-term targeted investment in rural infrastructure will mean more jobs in rural America, access to capital for rural communities, more commerce and international trade, accelerated new startup small businesses and entrepreneurial innovations,” Sweeney added.
Contact USDA Rural Development
For more information about finance programs available through USDA Rural Development, please visit www.rd.usda.gov/ia or call the office located in Atlantic at (712) 243-2107 Ext. 4. This office serves communities, businesses and residents in Harrison, Shelby, Audubon, Pottawattamie, Cass, Mills, Montgomery, Adams, Fremont, Page and Taylor Counties.
USDA Rural Development has 11 offices across the state to serve the 1.7 million Iowans living in rural communities and areas. Office locations include a State Office in Des Moines, along with Area Offices in Albia, Atlantic, Humboldt, Indianola, Iowa Falls, Le Mars, Mount Pleasant, Storm Lake, Tipton and Waverly.