Middle Park Medical Center (MPMC) hosted a community event on Friday, Jan. 15 to celebrate the USDA loan that will allow for the Hospital District to acquire the existing leasehold interest in its facilities from the Facilities Corporation and pay off existing bondholders.

The loan was initiated last year when Janice Pond, Director of Community Programs with the USDA was approached by Charles Irvin of Dougherty Mortgage to consider the needs of the Grand County community and the Kremmling campus of MPMC. Within the USDA program rules they discussed with attorneys and MPMC board members how to come up with the best financial package. The loan that helped save the MPMC thousands of dollars closed November 2015.

“The loan was a collaborative effort,” Pond said. “It was a win-win for the USDA and MPMC.”

The USDA’s mission is to work with rural communities and improve the quality of life. Nation-wide they have 48 programs to help rural community with economic development. Rural is defined by them as a population less than 20,000.

MPMC started the application process for the loan from Rural Development, USDA, in August 2015. The interest rate went from 7.25 percent down to 3.25 percent with a saving of more than $500,000.

The community celebration on Friday at the Kremmling Visitor’s Center / Chamber of Commerce included community members, USDA staff from the Denver office, Dougherty Mortgage staff members who worked on the loan, Grand County Commissioner Merrit Linke, Grand County Commissioner Kris Manguso, Kremmling Town Manager Mark Campbell, Kremmling Mayor Tom Clark, Executive Director of the Kremmling Chamber of Commerce, Shelly McManus, and MPMC staff and board members.