The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced a commitment to insure a $29 million mortgage loan to Parkview Community Hospital Medical Center in Riverside, Calif. The loan is made possible through the Section 223(f) component of the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) Section 242 Hospital Mortgage Insurance Program. Parkview is the first hospital to refinance debt through Section 223(f).
According to HUD, the program will provide refinancing of a hospital's debts without conditioning such refinancing on new construction or renovation. Parkview is a 193-bed acute care hospital that has served the Riverside area for more than 50 years. It is currently paying 20% interest on its existing debt, and the new FHA-insured mortgage will have an interest rate of approximately 7%, saving the hospital almost $3 million per year.
‘This refinance program is designed to help hospitals struggling with high interest rates and limited credit options,’ says FHA Commissioner David Stevens. ‘The savings provided through FHA refinancing will help hospitals like Parkview hold down the cost of healthcare and better serve the community.’
SOURCE: HUD
