WELLSBORO - Funding for the planned expansion of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hospital emergency department got a shot in the arm Tuesday with approval by the county Industrial Development Authority authorizing Delta Development Group Inc. of Mechanicsburg to move ahead with grant applications.
The authority, which is representing Laurel Health Systems in applying for the funding, unanimously approved two resolutions authorizing the agency to prepare grant applications for partial funding of the $10 million project.
One of the two grants involved is from the state Department of Community and Economic Development, in an amount "not to exceed $6 million," and the other, a Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant for $3 million, already has been confirmed, according to Laurel Health Systems executive vice president and chief operations officer Jan Fisher.
"This is a huge win for us to receive this grant," she said, adding that both state Rep. Matthew E. Baker, R-Wellsboro, and state Sen. Joseph B. Scarnati III, R-Brockway, lobbied the governor for the grant, which provides funds for the acquisition and construction of economic, cultural or civic improvement projects.
The General Assembly must authorize funding for projects before they can be considered by the governor. Though the health system already has been notified it has been approved, Fisher said, it will take some time - and paperwork - before the money is received, hence the assistance from Delta.
Projects eligible for funding range from museums, zoos, theaters and cultural centers to airports, convention centers and industrial parks.
"Hospitals were added to the governor's 2003 stimulus package by the Republican caucus," said Delta principal Kurt Kissinger, who explained how the bigger of the two funding applications work.
The Infrastructure and Facility Improvement Program through DCED, is a multi-year grant program that helps offset the payment of debt service on capital projects, Kissinger said.
"It is a competitive grant, but once the decision is made, you don't have to apply again," he said.
The money will be disbursed once per year over the course of 20 years, whereas with the RACP grant, the money only is disbursed when application is made by the health system for reimbursement of project costs, said agency senior associate Nathan Garner.
Funds can be used to pay for "bricks and mortar" costs, which includes storm water plans, access roads and other costs directly attributable to the actual construction of the project, he said.
"This money is set aside by the Legislature every two years for special projects like this one," Garner said, adding that the money is released in the form of a letter from the governor to the health system.
Though not a competitive grant, the project will be "watched over" by audit through construction, he said.
The money can be used to pay for the "bricks and mortar" costs associated with the project, which does not include architectural fees, feasibility studies and the like, but does include storm water plans, access roads and other costs directly attributable to the actual construction of the project, he said.
The authority meets once yearly, or more often if the need arises, said chairman John Martin.
A joint public hearing with borough council and the health system is slated for tonight at 6 p.m. in the hospital's board room to hear residents' concerns about the project.
