Leeds health care nonprofit gets $371K fed loan for clinic upgrade
Photo / Maureen Milliken
DFD Russell Medical Center, based in Leeds, has received a $371,000 USDA Rural Development loan to expand its Leeds clinic.
DFD Russell Medical Center Inc., headquartered in Leeds, is one of 38 rural health care centers across 14 states to share $65 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development fund.
The health care provider, which has clinics in Leeds, Monmouth and Turner, will get a $371,000 Critical Facilities Loan to renovate the Leeds facility. DFD Russell's three clinics serve 8,000 patients from 13 towns in Androscoggin and Kennebec counties.
In all, the USDA money will benefit more than 600,000 patients in rural areas nationwide, according to a news release. Health care nonprofits in more than a dozen states received funding.
"Access to modern community facilities and essential services is critical for growth and prosperity in rural communities,” Bette Brand, U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development, said in a news release, adding, "when rural America thrives, all of America thrives.”
Timothy P. Hobbs, Maine state USDA rural development director, said, “This essential funding to assist DFD Russell Medical Center Inc., is an excellent example of the ways Rural Development can help critical health care facilities in Maine. Rural communities rely on vital medical services, and our agency has loans and grants that may be able to provide hospitals and clinics with funding for renovations or life-saving equipment.”
A psychiatric nurse practitioner has been added to the practice, and additional exam rooms and support spaces are required to accommodate the addition, the release said. The project will include constructing new offices and a conference/training room at the Leeds clinic. A restroom will also be made ADA-compliant. The renovations will enable the new psychiatric exam rooms and support spaces to be located on the upper level of the building, near other patient access spaces.
In October, DFD Russell and Central Maine Healthcare announced a partnership to expand access to cardiovascular care in rural central Maine. The program, which launched in November, allows physicians from CMH's Central Maine Heart and Vascular Institute in Lewiston, about 20 miles to the south, to see patients at the Leeds clinic.
DFD Russell has been recognized by the Health Resources and Service Administration as a Health Center Leader — among the top 10% of all health centers — and a National Quality Leader for Cardiovascular and Diabetes Health, DFD Russell CEO Laurie Kane-Lewis said at the time.
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments