The North Dakota Monitor’s Jacob Orledge reports a rural hospital in southwest North Dakota is on stronger financial footing after receiving an emergency loan from the Bank of North Dakota.
Jacobson Memorial Hospital Care Center in Elgin was approved for a 5-million-dollar loan after lawmakers authorized the emergency program during a special session in January.
The hospital had been in danger of not making payroll earlier this year after debt, leadership changes and financial problems put its future in question.
The Monitor reports the loan has helped the hospital pay off existing debts and build a 30-day cash reserve. The hospital used about 3-million dollars to pay off a line of credit and repay vendors.
Hospital board chairman Matt Hager told the Monitor the facility is now following a new plan and is on track to have consistently positive cash flow by the end of the year.
The loan is scheduled to be repaid over 11 years, with the first year limited to interest-only payments.
Jacobson Memorial is a 25-bed critical access hospital with a 24/7 emergency room. Hospital supporters told lawmakers earlier this year that losing the facility would affect emergency care, jobs, the local tax base and nearby communities.
Read the full reporting from Jacob Orledge at NorthDakotaMonitor.com.
Comments