USDA urged to help hospital loans

Sens. Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan and Rep. Earl Pomeroy, all D-N.D., are urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture to approve federal loans to help finance the construction of a new hospital in Jamestown.

In a letter to USDA Rural Development, the delegation supports Jamestown Hospital’s application for $46 million in direct and guaranteed loans to finance the new hospital.

“As North Dakota’s Congressional Delegation, we are proud to unite with the city and county officials from Jamestown and Stutsman County who have already provided their support for this application,” the delegation writes. “We are confident you will agree that a new regional medical center is vitally important to meeting the distinctive health care needs of people who live in this rural part of our state.”

The current James-town Hospital opened in 1935 and was designed to the standards and practices of the time. The building is inefficient and is built on a hillside that results in steep grades and access problems. Management conducted an extensive analysis of renovating the existing facility and concluded the cost of renovation would be more than building a new facility.

The proposed new $52 million hospital will be built on a 50-acre site on the southwest side of Jamestown near Interstate 94. The 100,000 square foot state-of-the-art hospital will be designed to meet the needs of today’s patients. The facility — scheduled to open in 2011 — would provide improved access for patients and new medical specialties currently not available in the community.

Tags: local news, news, hospital, loan, conrad, dorgan, pomeroy