New and Noteworthy

Showcasing Value and Impact Can Help Ensure Funding Support

With the P&I, the next Health Center Funding Cliff, and elections on the horizon, demonstrating your health center’s local and national impact to lawmakers and funders has never been more critical. Recent reports highlighted below reveal how patients are benefitting from the changing landscape of FQHCs, serving as examples of how data can enforce a positive narrative surrounding health centers.

Capital Link recently worked with health centers to showcase their value and impact:

• Colorado Coalition for the Homeless utilized their report to highlight the $29 million they saved the health system in 2018, sharing their findings to social media.
• Alexander Valley Healthcare (California) provides a downloadable report on their website, highlighting their center's $4 million in savings to Medicaid and $7 million in savings to the overall health system. 
• Lanai Community Health Center (Hawaii) incorporates the Value & Impact findings in their annual report (pages 34-35) to illustrate economic impact to potential donors and investors.

Publicizing information like this is essential for health centers to maintain financial sustainability, as it justifies funding support, educates stakeholders, and better illustrates your personal story. By translating your own health center’s milestones and achievements using facts and figures, you can confidently secure funding and maintain stakeholder support long into the future. Tools like Capital Link’s customized Value & Impact infographic report can assist by highlighting your health center’s employment and economic impacts using economic modeling software. Learn more here.

New Markets Tax Credits Could Save Your Capital Project Millions

If your health center is planning a facilities expansion project of $5 million or more within the next two years, and/or you anticipate a need to expand access to integrated care services for behavioral health, substance use disorder, or HIV/AIDS, you could subsidize 20-25% of your project costs with New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) funding. With the recently announced one-year extension of the NMTC Program to an historic high of $5 billion, NOW is the time to get “construction ready”.

As NMTC financing is a critical source of low-cost capital and equity for health center facility projects,
this large allocation is an historic opportunity for health centers looking towards capital projects. While the standard NMTC allocation has remained at $3.5 billion since 2007, inflation has worn away about 25 percent of the NMTC's buying power since then. An inflation adjustment from 2007 would have provided about $4.47 billion in NMTC authority, so Congress’s $500 million increase above inflation is important to note. The $5 billion application round will likely open in the late summer or early fall of 2020.

Even with increased funding, the NMTC program will still be highly competitive. This means project readiness in alignment with NMTC application cycles is critical. If your health center will eventually need to expand access to care –regardless if initial project funding has been secured— it is crucial to act on this opportunity now and focus on financing later.

You can find more information about NMTCs here on our website, and by watching our recent NMTC webinar presentation here. You can also find information on data products and tools to assist you in planning for growth here.

To discuss how Capital Link can help your health center prepare for and obtain NMTC financing and receive a complimentary site eligibility assessment, please contact Duncan McGillivray, Project Consultant, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; or Jonathan Chapman, Chief Project Officer, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

How the HRSA Health Center Facility Loan Guarantee Program (LGP) Can Assist Your FQHC

Often, FQHCs experience difficulties obtaining affordable loans for capital projects and/or delays caused by credit or collateral shortfalls. These issues can lead to protracted development schedules and higher costs, resulting in myriad challenges—including limited access to patient care and sub-optimal working conditions for staff.
While many FQHCs know of HRSA’s Loan Guarantee Program (LGP), not everyone understands what it could mean for the future of a health center capital project.

However, the LGP can actually enhance your health center’s credit profile, reducing the lender’s risk and allowing them to lend to health centers under more favorable terms than otherwise possible. In 2018, new funds for the LGP appropriated by Congress enabled HRSA to update and modernize the program to provide guarantees for almost $900 million in new loans to FQHCs. The guarantee can cover up to 80% of the principal amount of loans made by non-federal lenders for the construction, renovation, and modernization of medical facilities operated by health centers.

For some centers, the LGP could mean the difference between “yes” or a “no” from a lender, while for others, it may allow the lender to offer a lower interest rate, a longer fixed-rate term, or a higher loan-to-value ratio.

Capital Link provides technical assistance to health centers interested in planning a capital project and understanding whether and how to apply to the HRSA LGP. Visit our webpage for more information. Fact sheets are available here.

HRSA is accepting applications for the LGP. Interested health centers should contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Click here for details.