Articles of Interest
Join Our 25th Anniversary Celebration
Bringing State-of-the-art Cancer Care to Montana
Keeping the Doors Open for Rural Healthcare
It's Good Biz to Do Biz with the MFFA
Join Our 25th Anniversary Celebration
As we rev-up for the 25th, we got to wondering, “Did You Know”....
- The Legislature formed the Montana Facility Finance Authority’s predecessor
agency, the Montana Health Facility Authority in 1983 in response to a special
Governor’s panel convened to look for ways to contain healthcare costs and help
rural healthcare providers finance projects.
- The Authority enables qualified non-profit healthcare and community service providers
to access financial markets at favorable interest rates through innovative programs. By
successfully assuring that rural Montana continues to have available primary care and
emergency medical services, Montanans statewide benefit from our activities.
- In 1999, the Legislature authorized the Board of Investments (BOI) to guarantee Authority loans to
hospitals that otherwise wouldn't have access to public financial markets. This guarantee, and the lower interest rates it makes possible, saves small rural hospitals, notably Critical Access hospitals, millions of dollars in interest costs over the life of the bonds issued.
- Under state law the services of the Authority are available only to Montana qualified non-profit healthcare, community service providers and pre-release centers.
- To launch the program in 1983 the new Authority was given a $35,000 inter-entity loan from the state which was repaid in full within the year. Since that time the Authority has received no Montana tax dollars to offer this financial service and economic development tool.
- The money non-profit institutions save from lower interest rates made available through the Authority may be re-invested in expanded services, reduced patient costs and/or offer community programs.
Bringing State-of-the-art Cancer Care to Montana
We are proud of the Authority’s role in helping make possible in Montana a new state-of the- art cancer treatment option called CyberKnife®. Having this opportunity available has further strengthened the oncology leadership role of the Sletten Cancer Institute at Montana’s largest medical complex, Benefis Healthcare in Great Falls.
For Montanans, CyberKnife®, the latest in radiosurgery, means many patients treated with this technology can have their treatment in the morning and sleep in their own beds that night – every cancer patient’s dream. Studies show that when a patient can go home, healing is greatly enhanced, as is quality of life.
Photo by Doug Worrell
Sletten’s CyberKnife®, invented by Stanford
University neurosurgeon Dr. John Adler, is one of only 100 in use in the world. It is so precise that it can destroy tumors without
damaging any surrounding healthy tissue. Through real-time imaging, CyberKnife® knows exactly where to direct the multiple
beams of high-energy radiation. No incision, anesthesia or recovery time is involved for most patients. Unlike other technologies
currently in use, this “intelligent machine” adjusts for both patient and tumor movement without the need for screwing a steel
frame into a patient’s skull. The technology also is effective in
treating vascular abnormalities.
Photo by Doug Worrell
The Institute’s design includes an environment of “healing gardens,” a solarium and meditation room. It provides a multidisciplinary approach to leading-edge cancer treatment that includes advanced medical care and therapies. Since it opened, Sletten has treated Montanans as well as patients from throughout the region.
As a non-profit, Benefis was able to turn to the Authority to help
finance its master facility plan – including the purchase of
CyberKnife® – by issuing a high-quality, tax-exempt bond. The
favorable low-interest rates through the Authority can save nonprofits
thousands, perhaps millions, of dollars over the life of a
bond issue.
Keeping the Doors Open for Rural Healthcare
Back in 1987, McCone County Hospital, in Circle, Montana, was in real danger of flat lining – closing its doors forever.
But thanks to a federal program modeled on an earlier pioneering Montana program to keep rural hospitals open, McCone County Health Center today is the prototype for healthy rural hospitals throughout Montana.
In 1987, the Center faced shrinking bed occupancy rates,
declining reimbursements from Medicaid and Medicare, and
intensifying market pressure to lower its costs. That year the
Montana Legislature created the state’s Medical Assistance
Facility (MAF) program – the model for the current federal
Critical Access Hospital (CAH) program passed in 1997.
The CAH program relaxed federal staffing regulations and modified Medicare reimbursement rates geared more to large urban hospitals. Since 1990, when McCone County Hospital became Montana’s first CAH, the number in the state has grown to 45. This vital network assures that rural populations continue to receive basic care. The CAHs are linked with urban hospitals and specialists to care for patients who need greater levels of care.
We at the Authority tip our hat to the visionary Montanans who helped create the MAF program opening the way for the federal CAH program. Especially notable are former State Rep. and Sen. Cecil Weeding of Jordan, and U.S. Senator Max Baucus. Their efforts have not only benefited all Montanans, but people in rural areas throughout the U.S.
The Authority stands ready to help Montana CAHs meet the ever-changing healthcare needs of their communities. As part of our commitment to monitor and adapt our cutting edge services, we modified our Master Loan Program in 1994 to provide the Authority with a financing vehicle that would benefit CAHs. Because of the collaboration with the Montana Board of Investments, in 2007 this Program was effectively used in Ronan, Wolf Point/Poplar and Hamilton.
Rx for Economic Development
When United Kingdom -based GlaxoSmithKline plc, the largest pharmaceutical company in the world, was deciding whether to expand its Hamilton facility, the decision weighed in part on two key questions:
• Would the company outgrow Hamilton?
• Could Hamilton assure quality healthcare for 160 additional workers?
With assistance from the Montana Facility Finance Authority (MFFA), Hamilton’s arcus Daly Hospital had the right answers.
Hospital Administrator John Bartos told GSK officials that, as one of Montana’s 45 designated Critical Access Hospitals, Marcus Daly already had in place plans to expand the hospital campus and make the hospital a state-of-the-art facility. Financing for $1.4 million in new equipment and the $6 million facilities expansion was put in place through the MFFA.
Fully satisfied, GSK officials have since launched Phase One of a $100 million expansion in Hamilton, due for completion in 2007. The expanded adjuvant technology lab will further strengthen the area’s long-established role in biological research and manufacturing. The Hamilton adjuvant expertise is growing in importance as GSK’s newly introduced Cervical Cancer Vaccine grows in acceptance. The chemical properties of adjuvant help make the vaccine more effective.
Today local quality health care plays an important role in corporate decision making. The Authority, by giving communities access to monies to retain quality basic healthcare, helps level the playing field between urban and rural in the highly competitive economic development arena. The Authority’s work with Marcus Daly Hospital is just one example of how MFFA empowers public-private partnerships for public benefit and without using any tax dollars.
“The Authority helps meet the changing service needs of Montana, needs that wouldn’t be filled, or if filled, not as adequately by other means,” said MFFA Board Chairman Jon Marchi in the June 2006 issue of the Authority Review.
Back to TopIt's Good Biz to Do Biz with the MFFA
To date, more than 100 non-profit institutions throughout Montana have come to the Montana Facility Finance Authority for low-cost capital to help them improve vital services and strengthen local communities.
Bozeman - Hillcrest Senior Living
They are attracted to us because we do something banks and other financial institutions cannot: issue high quality tax-exempt bonds. They also seek our expertise on the way to structure the deal and, of course, like our favorable low interest rates that save them thousands and sometimes millions of dollars over the life of each bond issue.
In fact, it’s a “win-win” formula for all parties. MFFA-issued paper is sold to individuals as well as institutional investors (bond funds, mutual funds, insurance companies, to name a few). Purchasers have full confidence in the integrity of the Authority’s offerings due to their expertise in the tax exempt arena.
Our market basket of financing alternatives provides many options to assure that it fits each borrower’s particular needs.
The biggest winners of all are Montana’s taxpayers. The Authority receives no Montana tax dollars to offer this financial service and economic development tool. Instead, we use fees generated by deals to stay financially independent while playing our critical role in helping upgrade state services and strengthen Montana’s infrastructure.
Chester - Liberty County Hospital
Our success has earned us growing national attention. A number of other states are looking to adapt MFFA programs. Meanwhile, our staff constantly monitors other state programs to see if they might apply to our cutting-edge services. Right now, for example, we are considering a new program that would offer Montana banks a chance to participate in loans that produce yields similar to those considered “bank deductible”. After all, you don’t stay out front as an innovative financing leader by resting on your laurels!
Financing by the Authority can mean “go” or “no go” for a project. For example, Paul Cory, Administrator for the Great Falls pre-release center said, “Frankly, we would have had to back away from the expansion” without the MFFA bond issue. To see if one of our programs can help your nonprofit organization, please click here.
Billings - St. John's Lutheran Ministries
