La Red breaks ground for new facility
A groundbreaking ceremony Feb. 4, marked the start of construction for La Red Health Center’s new ambulatory healthcare facility serving Sussex County. U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Administrator for Housing and Community Facilities Tammye Treviño was on hand to announce the department’s $2.1 million investment in the project.
La Red has been providing healthcare services from two rented buildings on Market Street in Georgetown, but the buildings’ 4,800 square feet are aging and inadequate to meet the needs of the 6,500 patients being served. The new facility will be located on a 3-acre parcel. The first phase of the project will allow for a 15,000-square-foot ambulatory healthcare facility. The facility will add a dental clinic and will feature more waiting and exam rooms, as well as HIV, Medicaid and diabetes counseling rooms. The building will also have 10,000 square feet of expansion capacity for behavioral health services, counseling and administration. La Red estimates the number of patients being served will double when the new facility is completed before the end of 2011.
"This is an exciting time for La Red Health Center as we enter our second decade of providing quality healthcare to the residents of Sussex County,” said Brian S. Olson, La Red CEO. “The new facility will allow La Red Health Center to do even more to increase access to quality and affordable ambulatory medical care and serve as a medical home for an increased number of Sussex Countians. This effort is being made possible through the collective effort of La Red Health Center’s many partners which include the Town of Georgetown, Sussex County Council, our short-term construction lender NCALL [National Council on Agricultural Life and Labor Research], our long-term construction lender - the USDA [U.S. Department of Agriculture], and the many banks and foundations that provided financial support through grants.”
Phase I of the project is expected to cost $2.9 million. The National Council on Agricultural Life and Labor Research is providing interim financing. In addition to USDA, the project is also supported by several private foundations, including AstraZeneca, which is providing a $250,000 grant. USDA Rural Development is providing a $2 million low-interest loan to help with the land purchase and construction of the facility and a $100,000 grant to help with dental equipment. In 2009, USDA Rural Development provided a $50,000 grant to help La Red purchase three vans that are in service and are being used by La Red’s Community Health Workers that provide healthcare services to residents in remote rural areas.
ABOUT USDA
• U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development returned more than $159 million to rural Delaware in 2010
• Rural Development funds more than 40 programs that support agriculture, business opportunities, homeownership, home repair, rental housing, broadband technology, public safety, healthcare, education, social and cultural needs, and energy-related projects
Learn more by calling 856-3990, Ext. 4, or by visiting rurdev.usda.gov
