The state of Iowa will be helping a local hospital with its financial struggles.
Governor Terry Branstad signed an appropriations billinto law this week that grants the state permission to loan money to certain border county hospitals.
Qualifying hospitals must be licensed in a county that borders two states and has 25,000-50,000 residents.
There are about a half-dozen counties in Iowa that border two states, but Lee County is the lone one that meets the population requirement.
Duane Fitch heads the firm that manages Keokuk Area Hospital. He says the hospital will take advantage of the legislation and ask the state for $5-million.
"(It will be used) to get caught up on some outstanding bills (and) to make some strategic investments to further our presence in the community and our offerings."
Fitch says it will also be used to boost cash flow until a solution can be reached on the sub-standard Medicaid reimbursement for KAH.
He says the terms of the loan have yet to be determined. He says getting this targeted legislation required a lot of lobbying by local leaders.
The state loan would be on top of the recent $100,000 contributions from Keokuk and Lee County. That money will be used as a local match for more than a quarter million dollars from the federal government.
