U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue today announced that USDA provided more than $1 billion in Fiscal Year 2017 to help improve access to health care services in rural communities.
“USDA invests in a wide range of health care facilities – such as hospitals, clinics and treatment centers – to help ensure that rural residents have access to the same state-of-the art care available in urban and metropolitan areas,” Perdue said. “I understand that building a prosperous rural America begins with healthy people. Ensuring that rural communities have access to quality medical care is a top priority for USDA.”
USDA invested more than $1 billion in rural health care in Fiscal Year 2017 through the Community Facilities Direct Loan Program. The loans can be used to fund essential community services. For health care, this includes to construct, expand or improve 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. The following are examples of rural health care projects in Georgia:
• The Tift County Hospital Authority will use $90.3 million Community Facilities Direct Loan funds to assist in the replacement of the existing emergency center and construction of a new patient tower at the main campus in Tifton, GA. The Authority also received a loan of $20 million to provide financial assistance to build a replacement facility for Cook Medical Center in Adel, GA. Cook Medical Center will include an acute care hospital, 95 bed nursing home and a 12 bed geriatric psychiatric unit. Additionally, construction is well under way to build a new three story musculoskeletal center and purchase an ambulatory surgical center and associated physician practices and restructure some existing long term debt, funded with a loan of $47,695,000.
• Morgan Memorial Hospital recently began construction for replacement of their critical access hospital in Madison, Georgia with major funding from a $35 million Community Facilities Direct Loan. Hospital officials said the new state-of-the-art facility will provide increased local access to a wider range of specialties, enhance staff recruitment and reduce the need for transfers to other facilities. The new hospital is also anticipated to enhance Morgan County’s appeal to businesses and developers.
Funding from USDA’s Community Facilities Direct Loan program is playing a major role across the nation. In addition to health care, these investments are providing an economic boost in the form of good-paying, rural-based jobs. USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities and create jobs in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; homeownership; community services such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural areas. For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov.