U.S. Senators Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins (R-Maine) today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development program has granted a $375,000 loan to Fish River Rural Health in Eagle Lake. Fish River Rural Health will use the loan to purchase the Eagle Lake Regional Health Center building and begin the necessary renovations to improve the building’s facilities and expand its services.
“Residents of rural communities across the nation face limited access to quality, affordable healthcare,” Senators Snowe and Collins said in a joint statement. “This loan will assist Fish River Rural Health make the much-needed improvements to the Eagle Lake Regional Health Center and enhance the availability of first-rate preventative care to the residents of the St. John River Valley.”
The USDA Rural Development program provides financial loans and grants to help improve the economy and quality of life in all of rural America. The funds are used for community programs, which seek to construct or improve community facilities for health care, public safety, and public services. The terms of the USDA’s Community Facility Direct Loan to Fish River Rural Health are 30 years at 4.5 percent.
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