KALISPELL — St. John’s Lutheran Hospital in Libby has received a $32 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to build a new hospital.
St. John’s board chairman Steve Sorenson said Wednesday the project will improve health care and help attract and retain physicians while the construction project will create jobs.
Sorenson says they plan to break ground on the 79,000-square-foot facility this fall and hope to be open in the spring of 2014.
The hospital received approval for the loan guarantee from HUD on Tuesday following a review of the hospital’s finances to determine its ability to repay the debt.
St. John’s Lutheran Hospital Foundation has raised $1.4 million toward the project.
The current hospital was built in 1952.