Like so many in rural America, the residents of Thomasville, Alabama, and surrounding towns, had to travel as far as 100 miles for basic and emergency healthcare services, after losing their closest hospital in 2011. But with the help of a USDA Rural Development loan through North Avenue Capital, Thomasville Regional Medical Center, an acute care hospital and medical campus, opened to serve the residents of southwest Alabama.
North Avenue Capital (NAC), a leading provider of USDA-backed commercial loans, has provided a record $50 million in debt financing to the Thomasville Regional Medical Center (TRMC), an acute care hospital and medical campus in southwest Alabama.
Due to the size of the project, the financing structure consisted of four different loans that will refinance existing debt, provide working capital, and fund the purchase of state-of-the-art medical equipment.
The acute care facility is located in Thomasville, Alabama, a rural city with a population of fewer than 5,000 people. The TRMC campus provides a central hub for rural communities located outside of surrounding cities such as Mobile, Montgomery, Tuscaloosa, and Birmingham; making it a prime business and trade area that can service over 80,000 people.
With the help of NAC, TRMC will have a firm presence in the area and provide healthcare services to a severely distressed nonmetropolitan area that lost its closest hospital in 2011. The loss of the decades-old facility has left residents traveling as far as 100 miles for basic and emergency healthcare services, the need for which has only increased since the COVID-19 outbreak.
In addition to the hospital, a medical office building located within the TRMC campus has been fully leased and is already attracting surgeons and specialists that will be positioned to provide a wide range of medical services to the residents of the county and surrounding area. The building consists of three distinct areas, including administrative space, physician space, and outpatient rehabilitation space.
Despite the uncertainty caused by the pandemic, NAC believes that the reintroduction of a medical facility to the area will not only enhance the community’s access to healthcare but also provide good-paying jobs and inject much-needed capital into the community, thereby boosting the local economy.
TRMC has already begun implementing its plans to provide health education services, community service workers, community health screenings, and other services, reinforcing its commitment to enhancing the health of underserved communities that reside in rural America.