$37.4 Million USDA Loan Secured for New Hospital
By Ryan Schlehuber

A sigh of relief can be heard at Mackinac Straits Hospital and Health Center now that funding for the construction of a new hospital in St. Ignace has been secured. It was announced Friday, September 14, that $37.4 million in loans has been approved by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the construction of a new facility. It comes as $10.4 million in lowinterest direct loans and $27 million in loan guarantees from Rural Development.

Hospital CEO Rod Nelson said the size of the funding probably makes the St. Ignace hospital "the largest USDA-funded rural hospital project in Michigan history."

It was only a few weeks ago that the funding was temporarily wiped off the table, because the project was not submitted to USDA by an August deadline, explained Mr. Nelson. But a letter from the Upper Peninsula's Washington delegation, Congressman Bart Stupak and Senators Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin, urged USDA to release the funding, which had already been approved.

"There was a time four weeks ago that I thought this project wasn't going to happen," said Mr. Nelson. "Without the help of those three people, it may not have happened."

The $10.4 million in direct loans for the St. Ignace facility is $8 million more than the State of Michigan receives each year in direct loans, said Jim Yoder, USDA representative in Gladstone, and the $37.2 million is more than 10% of federal loans given out nation-wide.

"It is highly unusual for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to approve a loan this size," said Mr. Stupak in a press release. "I am pleased that USDA recognized how vital these funds are to ensure St. Ignace area residents continue receiving quality health care."

The rural, critical access hospital covers all of Mackinac County and has satellite clinics in Naubinway and on Mackinac Island.

The new hospital, to be constructed on North State Street near the Mackinac County Airport, will replace Mackinac Straits Hospital and Healthcare on the corner of Hombach and Burdette streets, which was opened in 1954. Growth in demand for services and changing hospital regulations and building codes are fueling the drive for a new facility, which will be called Straits Area Healthcare Village.

The new hospital will include space for a tribal health center for members of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, an emergency department, inpatient and retail pharmacy, radiology, aqua therapy, and outpatient surgery. It will also offer expanded areas for chemotherapy and infusion, a six- chair renal dialysis unit, and space for radiation therapy in the future.

Construction will cost $26 million and the rest will refinance the debt at the Mackinac Island Medical Center and the hospital's $1.2 million short-term debt.

Grading the land is expected to begin this fall. Some clearing began last winter. Design of the facility is expected to be completed before the end of the year, which will then need to be reviewed by the state.

The goal, said Mr. Nelson, is to begin construction in April 2008. The new facility is scheduled to be completed in the fall 2009.

The funding was helped by a collaboration between Mackinac Straits Hospital and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, which will share resources. The partnership is unique in the country and impressed funders in Washington, hospital administrators have said.

"We are very pleased to be part of the collaboration that helped make this possible," said Sault Tribe Chairman Aaron Payment, whose government donated $1.2 million in land and will pay rent for its tribal health clinic. "This is a win-win situation for both the tribal and nontribal community in the area," he added.

Construction will also provide needed jobs in the community, Mr. Payment noted.