Holyoke Medical Center Builds Emergency Department, Clinical Space with MassDevelopment Financing
January 21, 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Kelsey Abbruzzese, MassDevelopment, 617-330-2086 & 617-448-9077 (cell)
kabbruzzese@massdevelopment.com
Rebecca MacGregor, Holyoke Medical Center, 413-534-2532
macgregor_rebecca@holyokehealth.com
A rendering of Holyoke Medical Center’s addition (courtesy of HMC).
MassDevelopment has provided a $10 million New Markets Tax Credit allocation and $15 million tax-exempt bond as part of a financing package for Holyoke Medical Center (HMC). The acute-care community hospital will use the financing to build a two-story addition that will house an emergency department on the first floor; and a weight and health-management clinic, sleep-care center, and specialty outpatient services on the second floor. HMC expects to serve about 2,500 patients in the weight and health clinic, and about 1,000 patients in the sleep center; and to boost outpatient visits by 12,500 thanks to the specialty clinics. HMC estimates the project will create 25 jobs and 70 construction jobs. People’s United Muni Finance Corp. purchased the bond and Chase was the New Markets Tax Credit investor.
On December 1, 2015, the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC) invested $3.9 million in HMC through the agency’s Community Hospital Acceleration, Revitalization, and Transformation (CHART) Investment Program. The investment focuses on enhancing care for patients with behavioral health conditions and $2 million of the funds are dedicated to the emergency department. HMC contributed $1.5 million to the project.
“HMC’s new emergency department will help the hospital better serve all patients, and the weight, sleep, and specialty programs will offer unique approaches to promote healthy lifestyles,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones. “We’re pleased to leverage this innovative and low-cost financing to help HMC achieve its vision for holistic health.”
“Community hospitals play a critical role in the Health Policy Commission’s efforts to achieve the Commonwealth’s health care cost containment and quality improvement goals,” says David Seltz, HPC Executive Director. “In making these vital investments, CHART hospitals were issued a challenge: propose initiatives that will put you on a path of transformation, while meeting critical health care needs of your community. Holyoke Medical Center met that challenge and we look forward to continuing to partner with them and the communities they serves to build a more coordinated and affordable health care system.”
HMC, which first opened its doors in 1893 as Holyoke City Hospital, provides inpatient medical, surgical, critical care, cardiac, obstetrical, psychiatric, oncology, outpatient diagnostic, and therapeutic services. The Center covers more than 180,000 residents in western Massachusetts, mostly from Holyoke, Chicopee, South Hadley, Granby, West Springfield, and Easthampton. The 198-bed facility has 1,200 employees and admits more than 7,500 patients, while the emergency department has an annual volume of more than 45,000 visits.
“Holyoke Medical Center is working tirelessly to enhance the patient experience by offering state-of-the-art services in state-of-the-art facilities in an independent community hospital,” said Spiros Hatiras, President and CEO of Holyoke Medical Center and Valley Health Systems, Inc. “We are raising the bar in the Pioneer Valley and this project is a significant part of the effort. We are very thankful to MassDevelopment and all the partners who came together to make this project a reality and we are looking forward to the grand opening in the spring of 2017.”
MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2015, MassDevelopment financed or managed 294 projects generating investment of more than $2.5 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create about 6,100 jobs and build or rehabilitate about 2,000 residential units.