New Nursing Facility Financed with NMTC Brings Advanced Care Options, Jobs and Increased Revenue to Louisiana Community

A new facility, financed in part by HOPE, provides long-term care options to families in Tangipahoa Parish, La., and brings jobs and increased tax revenue to its community.

A ribbon-cutting and open house for Camelot Community Care was held Nov. 15, 2018, in Ponchatoula, La.  The event brought together the facility operators, mayoral and legislative leaders, local residents and HOPE. 

CommCare Corporation and CCI, two of the largest operators of long-term care facilities in Louisiana, partnered to build and operate the facility, which replaces an older one that had been located in Kentwood, La. 

In his remarks, Jim Tucker, president and CEO of CommCare Corp., shared how HOPE immediately began work to secure financing for the project that is located in a rural, distressed area.

“HOPE provided an equity contribution to the project that made the project work,” Tucker told the crowd of nearly 100, who gathered for the open house. He said the collaboration of the team – CommCare, CCI, local city leaders and architects – ensured the project was completed in less than two years.

“We broke ground on July 1. Now, here we are 15 months later, opening what is unquestionably the nicest facility in the entire state of Louisiana,” Tucker said.

The project was financed, in part, with $9 million in New Market Tax Credit allocation provided by HOPE. The other financing partner on the project was Iberia Bank. The total cost of the project was $19.4 million.

The relocation from Kentwood places the facility closer to hospitals and population centers along Interstate-12, allowing the new facility to engage additional patients.

The project created about 100 construction jobs and 126 full-time positions. The facility serves Tangipahoa, St. Tammany, and Livingston Parishes, all persistent poverty counties as defined by the CDFI Fund.

“The new facility meets a health care need in the community, creates jobs and supports the tax base. These are the kinds of projects HOPE seeks to provide financing for in distressed areas,” said Wil Jacobs, the HOPE commercial loan officer who managed the project. “

The state of the art nursing facility is specifically designed and constructed to carry out CommCare’s person-centered care initiatives. Person-centered care involves changing the atmosphere of the traditional long-term care center to direct choice, dignity, and purpose to the residents. 

The facility has a top of the line therapy rehab center for both long and short stay residents. The aim of this combination of delivery of care, staffing, and therapy center is to provide a higher quality of care to residents, better clinical outcomes, and reduced hospital readmissions.  NMTC equity allowed CommCare to invest in this type of physical plant and invest in additional training towards employee career growth