Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District received $2.4 million in capital from UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) to help the organization deliver quality health care services to Tehachapi-area residents and rural communities in Kern County.
The $2.4 million purchase of Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District’s tax-exempt general obligation bonds is part of UnitedHealth Group’s California Health Care Investment Program, a 20-year, $200 million commitment to provide access to capital for health care entities providing services to underserved, low-income and underinsured communities and populations throughout the Golden State.
Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District is composed of Tehachapi Hospital and three rural health clinics in California City, Mojave and Tehachapi. The hospital’s services include a 24-hour emergency department; medical/surgery nursing unit; and radiology; laboratory; health and diet; respiratory therapy and rehabilitative services. The original hospital, a converted boarding house, opened in 1934 and was destroyed by an earthquake in 1952. The current hospital opened in 1957.
Proceeds from the bonds will be used to pay for the construction of a modern acute-care hospital facility that includes 25 hospital beds, an eight-bed emergency department, diagnostic radiology, ultrasound and mammography capability, a CT scanner, a clinical laboratory, rehabilitation services and an 11-outpatient clinic. Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District expects to begin construction by April 2011.