HUD APPROVES $55 MILLION MORTGAGE TO RENOVATE AND EXPAND ELLIS HOSPITAL IN SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK
Acute care facility construction project will support 450 full time jobs

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced a commitment to insure a mortgage loan to Ellis Hospital in Schenectady, New York. The $54.8 million loan is made possible through the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) Section 241 Supplemental Mortgage Insurance Program.

Ellis Hospital is a multi-campus, not-for-profit healthcare provider with hospitals, clinics, and physician offices located throughout the Schenectady region. Ellis has two existing FHA-insured mortgages through the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) Section 242 Hospital Mortgage Insurance Program.

The FHA-insured mortgage loan will consolidate two existing emergency departments into one by expanding Ellis Hospital's Nott Street emergency department while also adding a 208 car parking structure. The project will make the department more efficient and improve the delivery of emergency care service to the community.

"By helping to make these projects possible, FHA is not only helping to modernize health care facilities, it is also contributing to the financial well-being of communities by enabling investments that create jobs and support local economies," said FHA Acting Commissioner Carol Galante.

HUD estimates the Ellis Hospital construction project will support more than 450 full-time jobs and provide an economic boost of more than $177 million to the community. HUD's estimates are based on results from an economic model used by public and private institutions to examine a variety of economic development issues.

By insuring the mortgage loan, FHA is enabling the hospital to obtain lower cost financing that will save an estimated $17.5 million in interest costs over the life of the loan. Since 1968, FHA has insured 401 mortgage loans totaling $17.4 billion to hospitals in 43 states and Puerto Rico.

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. Eligible applicants can be public, proprietary, or nonprofit hospitals certified by the responsible State agency.

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