Impact
With this expansion, the facility projects to treat an additional 1700 patients, representing an increase of 13% in the number of people in this medically underserved area. Total visits are expected to increase at a similar rate of 12%. Behavioral Health will see the largest increase in patients served at 25% in part due to new pain management services to be added in an opioid addiction ridden region. A new and improved Patient Care Center will help WMC attract and retain quality medical providers to better serve its patients. The retention of 55 FTEs and creation of 11 FTEs is also expected by the NMTC investment.
Gap and Investment
To improve the quality of its services WMC needed to overcome the challenges of non-ADA compliant and poorly sized physician offices in multiple, aging and inadequate buildings. NMTC financing will offset the gap between the costs of the project and what WMC can afford to finance. Passumpsic Savings Bank provided a $4 million loan. Despite the Bank financing, WMC own equity, and donations from a capital campaign, the appraised real estate value, development costs, and specialized development needs of the medical center resulted in a $4.4 million gap and the need for NMTC financing.