Kimball Health Services (KHS) has received a US$23.4 million loan from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Community Facilities Direct Loan Program for a new hospital facility. The loan will cover nearly three-quarters of the US$32 million that the services estimated the new hospital will cost. The Health Service plans for the rest of the funds include a US$2.2 million from a capital fundraising campaign by the Kimball Hospital Foundation and a US$6.4 million general obligation revenue bond that must be approved by the county commissioners. Due to its status as a critical access hospital, Medicare can be expected to reimburse them for over 50 percent of the project cost, according to a press release. They also say the expectation is any bonds sold for financing will be paid back using hospital-generated revenues.
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The Kimball Health Services new hospital facility will be located at the former West Elementary School building which currently houses Kimball Health Services’ North Campus. The roughly 20,000 square-foot building will be renovated. There will also be the construction of a new, single-story 40,000 square foot hospital attached to the east side of the existing structure. “We were thrilled to get that phone call from the USDA office in North Platte that the national office in Washington had approved. The most important step was the USDA loan approval and we are very confident that construction will begin in early fall,” said Ken Hunter, the CEO of Kimball Health Services. He also added that they are seeing increased demand for services and have no room to expand at their current location. Most of the current hospital is still original construction from 1950. “Our 1950s facility wasn’t designed for today’s volumes or patient care needs,” Hunter said when announcing the loan approval.
