TWO health care facilities in the San Luis Valley were awarded USDA grants to improve their facilities, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Colorado State Director Armando Valdez announced today.
“Rural health care is a priority for the Biden-Harris Administration. These projects funded today will improve the level of care for four rural medical facilities across our state and expand critical services for 23,608 people in Colorado,” said Valdez.
Valley projects awarded USDA grants:
- Lutheran Hospital Association of the San Luis Valley will use a $1 million grant to perform renovations to improve patient and staff conditions at the San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center. The Regional Medical Center dates back 100 years and only offers significantly overcrowded, semi-private rooms with non-American Disability Act (ADA) compliant bathrooms for inpatient care. This project will convert seven rooms, presently used for outpatient cardiopulmonary services, into flexible private suites, including two that will have negative-pressure heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems for enhanced infection control and isolation capabilities. All rooms will feature ADA-compliant bathrooms, LED lighting, air scrubbers and necessary technology updates for modern equipment and patient monitoring.
- Mineral County will use a $929,200 grant to update the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system of the Clinic and Ambulance Building in southwest Colorado. The current system is inefficient and dated which results in constant comfort complaints and high energy bills and usage. This project will replace the system with high efficiency split system heat pumps and fan coil units while using existing ducting. The project will improve the comfort in a crucial community building that has seen increased use and demand because of COVID-19.