The Forrest General Orthopedic Institute will serve residents of South Mississippi.
A new, state-of-the-art facility to treat bone and joint cases will open for business thanks to financing from HOPE Enterprise Corp./HOPE Credit Union.
The 74,000-square-foot Forrest General Orthopedic Institute in Hattiesburg was made possible with New Markets Tax Credits financing from HOPE and will serve residents of South Mississippi.
The $30 million construction project will create a center that includes 30 licensed orthopedic beds, six orthopedic operating rooms, pre-operative and recovery rooms, as well as support services such as physical therapy, laboratory and diagnostic imaging services.
The orthopedic institute will also combine the latest technology with highly trained physicians and caring staff to offer services that match the highest levels of orthopedic care delivered across the country, according to HOPE.
“This new medical facility is the latest example of how the NMTC program is supporting entrepreneurs and community development projects in the region,” said HOPE CEO Bill Bynum. “Since the program’s inception, we have seen the tremendous impact that NMTC funding can have on attracting capital to communities that need it most.
Using some of its tax credit allocation, HOPE said it made two loans for the clinic’s development. The NMTC component made the funds available at a significantly reduced rate. One of the loans will be forgiven over a seven-year period, further reducing the cost of the facility.
Congress enacted the federal income tax credit as part of the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000 to spur new or increased investments into development projects located in low-income communities. Tax credits are awarded by the U.S. Treasury’s CDFI Fund on a competitive basis to community development entities.
Since the program’s inception, HOPE said it has received tax credit allocations totaling $50 million. The organization said it has leveraged that into more than 70 loans totaling $75 million across Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.
Overall, HOPE said since 1994, its efforts have generated more than $1.6 billion in financing and benefited more than 120,000 individuals in the Delta, Katrina-affected areas, and other distressed communities throughout Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.
The $146 million HOPE Credit Union in Jackson, Miss., serves nearly 27,000 members.
