(Riverton, WY) – The Riverton Medical District announced it has secured $54 million in funding needed to build a new hospital. On Nov. 16, 2022, the Wyoming Loan and Investment Board approved a $10 million grant from the State of Wyoming for the project.
In securing the grant, low interest loan and other funding to cover the projected cost of the new hospital, the citizen-led effort will continue to move forward. It allows the Riverton Medical District team to take the next steps toward creating a new locally owned and governed health care facility.
“We are over-the-moon excited and are incredibly grateful for the support from the State of Wyoming,” said Riverton Medical District Board Chair, Corte McGuffey. “This is the keystone piece to the financial puzzle and moves us on to the next phase in our work. All of this hard work these past four years has taken a massive step toward becoming a reality.”
Riverton Medical District will now continue to finalize the design process, followed by beginning the construction phase of the new hospital. It expects to break ground for the new hospital in 2023. Sampson Construction in Cheyenne, WY, has been selected as the project’s general contractor.
The $10 million grant comes from funds provided to the state through the American Rescue Plan Act. The Wyoming Loan and Investment Board – made up of Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, Secretary of State Karl Allred, Auditor Kristi Racines and Treasurer Curt Meier (Superintendent of Public Instruction Brian Schroeder also sits on the board but was not present) – approved the grant unanimously. This follows the April 2022 announcement that the medical district was awarded a low interest USDA Rural Development Community Facilities loan of $37 million dollars for the project, the largest award it has ever provided in Wyoming. In 2021, Riverton Medical District signed a Letter of Intent with Billings Clinic to provide clinical and management assistance for the new health care organization.
Riverton Medical District is working to build the hospital to serve patients and enhance health care services throughout the Riverton region. This includes plans for high-quality primary, acute, emergency and specialty health care services, with a focus on being responsible community partners and providing local jobs in central Wyoming.
“We are grateful for the community members who have joined with us to support this effort since we started more than four years ago, as well as for the support from the state and from our colleagues at Billings Clinic,” McGuffey said. “Their unwavering confidence in us will pay off when we have a community governed hospital that will provide medical security to our area for generations to come.”
To read all of County 10’s coverage of the Riverton Medical District, click here.