West Sacramento, Calif. — A $3 million Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) loan will soon help expand vital health services to the medically-underserved Colusa County region.
The recently-closed loan to Colusa Regional Medical Center (CRMC) provides funding for construction of the first phase of a $7 million project that will eventually include four buildings providing a total of 28,000 square feet of office and consolidated medical campus space. The changes will greatly expand capabilities of the 48-bed acute care hospital — the only such facility in Colusa County.
“RCAC has truly been a savior for us,” said Dale Kirby, CRMC’s chief executive officer.
“They’re one of those unique organizations that step in to help organizations in small, rural communities when commercial lenders can’t or won’t. We appreciate RCAC for their partnership.”
The agreement marks the second loan RCAC has provided CRMC. In 2001, the then newlyformed nonprofit hospital received a $1 million RCAC loan that, when combined with local community and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funds, allowed the group to purchase the Colusa Community Hospital.
At the time, the facility was on the verge of closing its doors due to a bankruptcy petition filed by its previous owner, Community Hospital Association of Mid-America. Formed specifically to purchase the Colusa Community Hospital, CRMC now provides local ownership and control of the Center and its critically needed services.
The organization decided to expand the current hospital facilities after several local medical practitioners, including the University of California, Davis Medical Group in Colusa, approached officials for help in providing much-needed clinic space. That eed, coupled with the Board of Director’s strategic plan to recruit new physicians to the community, became the basis for developing the project.
“We are expanding to meet the growing needs of Colusa County and surrounding areas,” said Kirby. “This project will provide much-needed office space for our existing hysicians’ growing practices, and also greatly assist us in recruiting new physicians and other healthcare professionals to our community.”
The RCAC loan will pay for completion of the first phase of the project, which includes two approximately 7,000 sq. ft. medical office buildings that will be used by local care providers and eventually others recruited to the community.
Phase two of the project will include construction of two additional similarly-sized medical buildings. Overall project plans also include creation of a center courtyard between buildings that will feature seating, trellises and shade trees.
Headquartered in West Sacramento, California, and serving 13 western states, RCAC is a nonprofit agency providing technical assistance, training and funding to rural communities seeking to develop a wide range of local services including, community facilities, affordable housing and water treatment facilities. In 1996, RCAC was designated a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) by the United States Treasury. The corporate headquarters of RCAC is located in West Sacramento, CA. RCAC also maintains field offices in San Marcos and Ukiah, California.