Comanche County Hospital is expanding with a new nursing facility thanks in part to a USDA grant program aimed at improving infrastructure in rural communities.
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Secretary Dr. Jewel Bronaugh announced Friday that USDA is investing $13 million to build and improve critical community facilities in Texas.
This infrastructure funding will increase access to health care, education and public safety while spurring community development and building sound infrastructure for people living in rural communities.
Projects in Texas include:
■ Comanche County Consolidated Hospital District will use an $11.6 million loan to build a 76-unit nursing facility that will be located adjacent to the current hospital. The units will include private and semiprivate rooms, and will house physical therapy, occupational therapy and massage therapy. This project will benefit over 13,975 rural people.
■ The city of Pleasanton will use a 1 million loan to build two additional hangars at the Pleasanton Municipal Airport. The hangars will meet the growing aviation storage demand required by recreational and commercial customers as well as providing storage space for the local Air Life helicopter’s support teams.
■ The city of Cisco is receiving a $33,600 grant to purchase a new police vehicle to provide law enforcement services. The city’s existing vehicle fleet is reaching the end of its mechanical life. The new vehicle will be a fully equipped police package Chevrolet Tahoe. This project will benefit approximately 4,000 rural people living in Cisco.
■ The city of Littlefield will use a $21,000 grant to purchase 15 portable radios for the police department. These will replace the radios that are no longer dependable due to their age. The radios will allow the police officers the ability to provide services to the approximately 6,400 people living in Littlefield.
Bronaugh highlighted 731 projects that USDA is making in five programs that will fund essential community services to help rural America build back better, stronger and more equitably than ever before. These programs include Community Facilities Direct Loans and Grants, Community Facilities Loan Guarantees, Community Facilities Technical Assistance Training Grants, Community Facilities Disaster Grants, and Economic Impact Initiative Grants. The projects will finance emergency response vehicles and equipment; build or improve hospitals and clinics and help fund other essential community facilities.
More than 100 types of projects are eligible for Community Facilities funding. Eligible applicants include municipalities, public bodies, nonprofit organizations and federally recognized Native American tribes. Projects must be in rural areas with a population of 20,000 or less.
For more information, visit https://www.rd.usda. gov/programs-services/community-facilities/community-facilities-direct-loan-grant-program.
—Citizen staff report