WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a commitment to insure a mortgage loan to Unity Hospital of Rochester in New York State. The $197 million loan is made possible through the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) Section 242 Hospital Mortgage Insurance Program.
Unity Hospital of Rochester operates a two campus 329-bed community hospital. The FHA-insured mortgage loan will be used to renovate the hospital’s Park Ridge Campus facility in Greece, NY, just west of Rochester. The project will also include construction of a new fourth floor and extensive renovation of a hospital annex to include a rehabilitation center and other services. The project will result in accommodations for 78 new medical/surgical patient beds. The loan will also be used to refinance existing hospital debt.
“FHA is helping to build state-of-the-art health care facilities like this all across the country,” said FHA Commissioner David Stevens. “By helping to make these projects possible, FHA also contributes to the financial well-being of communities by creating jobs to stimulate local economies.”
HUD estimates the Unity Hospital construction project will support 625 full-time jobs and provide an estimated economic stimulus of more than $302 million to the community. Once completed, it is estimated the project will support 238 full-time jobs and provide an annual economic benefit of $2 million.
By insuring the mortgage loan, FHA is enabling the hospital to obtain lower cost financing that will save an estimated $70.5 million in interest expense over the life of the loan. Since 1968, FHA has insured 392 mortgages to hospitals throughout the nation, 51 within the past five years.
FHA’s Section 242 Mortgage Insurance Program for Hospitals provides HUD-insured mortgages made by private lending institutions to finance construction or renovation of acute care hospitals including major equipment needed to operate the facility. Eligible applicants can be public, proprietary, or nonprofit hospitals certified by the responsible State agency.
