community facilities

USDA Rural Development’s Rural Partners Network (RPN) is transforming how the federal government partners with rural communities to foster economic growth. With an alliance of federal agencies and civic partners, RPN helps create jobs, build infrastructure, and improve communities throughout rural America.

When rural communities lean into clean energy, the path to economic prosperity is clear. Cleaner power options like solar and electric provide new market opportunities for producers and small businesses. They reduce energy costs for consumers and supports good-paying jobs in rural America.

Aging infrastructure and technology were taking their toll on the Hot Springs County Memorial Hospital, now known as Hot Springs Health, in Thermopolis, Wyoming. However, with local demand and tourists on their way to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, patient levels were increasing. Community leaders and hospital officials needed to find a way to fund a hospital upgrade and expansion. If not, the hospital would have to shut down.

Having access to quality health care is often a problem for low-income patients who live in rural communities. Fortunately, there are medical facilities such as Sandhills Medical Foundation, Inc in Lugoff, South Carolina that work on a sliding fee scale, which means that all their patients, regardless of income level, can afford quality health care. However, this has also increased their number of patients over time, and it wasn’t long before they recognized that their Lugoff office was running out of space.

In December 2017, Steve Coetzee, President and CEO of the Fahrney-Keedy Memorial Home, realized many of the surrounding senior care facilities in Boonsboro, Maryland were closing and that his team would need to expand their facility to meet future demand. However, the home did not have the available funds to do so.