MADISON, W.Va. — The Boone County Ambulance Authority will be the beneficiary of a federal loan.
Agriculture Under Secretary Lisa Mensah visited Boone Memorial Hospital Thursday to announce a $1,864,000 loan to the ambulance authority through the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Program.
Mensah made the announcement after a meeting to get an update the $31.8 million renovation project to build a new hospital. The new 50,000 square foot facility is expected to open in the summer of 2016.
Mensah said the loan would serve to help the ambulance authority with some needed upgrades.
“This loan will enable the ambulance department to increase its force to four new engines,” Mensah said. “So the loan will go toward new equipment and new engines.”
She said that the Rural Development Program is lucky enough to have people in the medical field and a West Virginia office. Ambulance authority Executive Director Randall Lengyel said the loan will help first responders provide better care.
“I think it’s great. It’s really going to help us and the county, we’re going to expand our service, have new equipment and more modern ambulances,” Lengyel said.
The USDA Rural Development program invested $330 million in the state of West Virginia last year.