LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Orthopaedic Institute for Children (OIC) announced today that it will be receiving $24.5 million in construction funding through the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program. The monies will help fund a series of new construction projects on its downtown Los Angeles campus including a new urgent care center, physical therapy department and research laboratories. It will also reimburse $9.5 million spent as part of the 2016 construction and opening of OIC’s ambulatory surgery center.
Financing for the project was secured by OIC’s longtime banking partner JPMorgan Chase and funded by three Community Development Entities: The Los Angeles Development Fund, Urban Research Park CDE and Chase New Markets Corporation. Also working on the project on behalf of OIC were Capital Peak Partners and legal counsel Bocarsly, Emden, Cowen, Esmail & Arndt.
NMTCs leverage private sector capital into below-market, flexible financing, which ultimately will provide OIC a net benefit of approximately $5 million. The program, enacted in 2000, is designed to stimulate capital markets investment in low-income communities throughout the country. At OIC, 94 percent of the children served are uninsured or underinsured, but no child is ever turned away because of an inability to pay.
“We are extremely grateful to Mayor Eric Garcetti, Congresswoman Karen Bass and Councilman Curren Price for their ongoing support of OIC and for their passionate involvement in helping us secure this funding,” said Anthony Scaduto, M.D., president and chief executive officer of OIC. “The NMTCs that are being provided as a result is truly a game changer and will allow us to significantly enhance the services we provide to the children of our community.”
The construction program, scheduled to launch this fall, will begin with the building of a new urgent care center that will more than double the size of the current orthopedic trauma wing. It will be followed by the building of a new physical therapy department and seven new research laboratories. A number of infrastructure upgrades will also be included in the master project as many of OIC’s current facilities are more than 50 years old.
Dr. Scaduto says that the relocation of some services and sequencing of the various phases of the construction have been designed to allow for all of the existing programs and services at OIC to remain open and fully operational during the construction projects.
“This project will create good local jobs, both temporary construction jobs as well as permanent medical and administrative positions as each phase of the project is completed,” said Dr. Scaduto. “It will also expand and improve medical services to the community as well as enhance educational opportunities for our partner school, the Orthopaedic Medical Magnet High School.”
About Orthopaedic Institute for Children
Orthopaedic Institute for Children (OIC) was founded in 1911 as Los Angeles Orthopaedic Hospital. Focused solely on musculoskeletal conditions in children, OIC receives 60,000 patient visits each year. In alliance with UCLA Health and with the support of the OIC Foundation, OIC advances pediatric orthopaedics worldwide through outstanding patient care, medical education and research. Locations in downtown Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Westwood and Calexico treat the full spectrum of pediatric orthopaedic disorders and injuries. For more information, visit ortho-institute.org.
About Los Angeles Development Fund
The Los Angeles Development Fund (LADF) is a California nonprofit corporation established by the city of Los Angeles in September 2006 to manage its New Markets Tax Credit program. LADF is certified by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund as a Community Development Entity and has been awarded $175 million in allocation. LADF uses its allocation to support qualified projects within the city of Los Angeles. For more information, please visit www.ladfnewmarkets.org.
About Urban Research Park CDE, LLC
Urban Research Park CDE, LLC (URP) was established in 2003. URP is certified as a Community Development Entity by the U.S. Department of Treasury and has been awarded $397 million in New Markets Tax Credit allocation authority. URP uses its NMTC allocation to support real estate projects focused on healthcare, innovative technology and education throughout the United States.
