HUD APPROVES $167 MILLION FINANCING PLAN TO BUILD STATE-OF-THE-ART HOSPITAL IN LAKEWAY, TEXAS

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced a commitment to insure a mortgage loan to Lakeway Regional Medical Center in Lakeway, Texas. The $166.9 million loan is made possible through the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) Section 242 Hospital Mortgage Insurance Program.

The project will include construction of a new eight-story hospital with helipad and parking garage. The facility will have 23 emergency department beds and 103 inpatient beds. It will have a fully operational surgery department and six operating rooms, two endoscopy rooms, and two pain management rooms.

"FHA is helping to build state-of-the-art health care facilities like this all across the country," said FHA Commissioner David Stevens. "By helping to make these projects possible, FHA also contributes to the financial well-being of communities by creating jobs and helping to stimulate local economies."

HUD estimates the Lakeway Regional Medical Center construction project will support 2,429 full-time jobs and provide an estimated economic stimulus of more than $450 million to the community. Once completed, it is estimated the project will support 1,871 full-time jobs and provide an annual economic benefit of more than $308 million.

By insuring the mortgage loan, FHA is enabling the hospital to obtain lower cost financing that will save an estimated $91.2 million in interest expense over the life of the loan. Since 1968, FHA has insured 358 mortgages to hospitals throughout the nation, 45 within the past five years.

The new hospital will be a critical component of a larger development project that includes plans for three medical office buildings, a hotel to accommodate outpatients, a children's day care center, retail spaces, and an additional parking garage.

FHA's Section 242 Mortgage Insurance Program for Hospitals provides HUD-insured mortgages made by private lending institutions to finance construction or renovation of acute care hospitals including major equipment needed to operate the facility. The eligible applicants can be public, proprietary, or nonprofit hospitals certified by the responsible State agency.

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