Endless Mountains Health Systems Infrastructure and Facilities Improvement Program Funding

Endless Mountains Health Systems, Inc. (EMHS) is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit charitable organization that operates a 21-bed acute-care, Critical Access Hospital (CAH) in the Borough of Montrose, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. EMHS is the primary healthcare provider to more than 32,000 residents in the rural northeastern portion of the state, and has a service area encompassing Susquehanna and parts of Wyoming Counties. In addition to the CAH certification, portions of EMHS’s service area are designated as Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas and Medically Underserved Areas by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. EMHS is one of the largest employers in Susquehanna County and is a significant contributor to the local and regional economy.

Due to steadily increasing clinic and Emergency Department (ED) visits and the need to expand services and resources, EMHS has outgrown its current facility. Between 2004 and 2008, the ED’s annual patient visits have risen nearly 47 percent, and clinic visits during the same time period have risen more than 10 percent. Originally constructed in 1956, the current facility’s inadequate layout, coupled with a severe lack of space and insufficient parking, significantly challenges the hospital to properly serve its patients and visitors. With no room for expansion on-site, and the cost of renovations exceeding the benefit, EMHS has planned to construct a 25-bed, $50 million replacement hospital less than 1.5 miles from the current facility in Bridgewater Township.

EMHS engaged Delta to develop a public funding strategy to help advance the $50 million capital improvement project – the first capital improvement project at the hospital since 1970. Delta identified the Commonwealth’s Infrastructure and Facilities Improvement Program (IFIP) as a funding resource and worked with hospital management to secure the support of key project stakeholders to seek funding through the program. The IFIP provides annual grants to offset debt service payments associated with financing the eligible project.

With Delta’s assistance, EMHS received a $977,760 IFIP award to advance the replacement hospital project. The project will also expand ED and operating room facilities, relocate the off-campus therapy services to the new facility, increase the number of exam rooms from 17 to 27, and increase the number of inpatient beds from 21 to 25, allowing EMHS to retain its CAH status. This project will also provide additional services including MRI, nuclear medicine, in-house mammography imaging, and primary care and specialty services not currently offered in the existing facility. The new hospital will also accommodate the integration of the current off-site outpatient rehabilitation department and will include a new multi-specialty physician suite that will provide space for up to 12 full-time providers.