That comes on top of $198 million in guarantees already going to General Health System, according to a story in The Advocate newspaper in Baton Rouge.
John Weicher, federal housing commissioner with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said St. James Parish Hospital in Lutcher is one additional hospital that will apply for backing on $15 million in improvements.
General Health is using FHA loan guarantees totaling $198 million in its request for $217.7 million in bonds, a move subject to the approval of the state Bond Commission today. While the actual expansion of Baton Rouge General will cost only $80 million, most of the remainder will go to refinancing old debt.
Weicher pointed out the program will allow General Health to save $53 million in interest payments.
Weicher said changes to the FHA's mortgage insurance program, initiated by U.S. Rep. Richard Baker, R-Baton Rouge, will give Louisiana hospitals access to loan guarantees that will make expansions possible.
The program previously required states to establish their own process of determining need, a costly, time-consuming process that prevented many states from participating, Weicher said.
Earlier this year, Baker sponsored legislation altering the FHA's criteria, allowing the administration to determine who qualified.
Baton Rouge General, which expects to begin construction at the end of the year, will add new patient rooms and expand areas for patient services, including cardiology, cancer treatment, emergency services and an expanded birth center and neonatal unit.
Bill Holman, General Health's president and chief executive officer, has said the hospital has needed to almost double its 105-bed capacity since it opened its emergency room in 1998.
He said the expansion will add another 98 beds, bringing the total to 203.
Holman said the two-year construction project will begin with additional parking and a power plant.
