On July 5, 2006, HUD issued a $55.1 million Section 242 mortgage insurance commitment for Onslow County Hospital Authority. The Authority will use funds from the insured loan to finance construction and rehabilitation of the Onslow Memorial Hospital (OMH) in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

OMH is a 162-bed general acute care hospital, a sole community provider, and the only non-military hospital in Onslow County, North Carolina. The nearest hospital is over 38 miles away.

The FHA-insured loan will enable the construction of a 92,580 square foot addition to OMH's current facility. The addition will include a new one-story Emergency and Surgical Services Pavilion housing Inpatient Operating Rooms, a new Emergency Department, and a new Central Sterile Processing area. Areas in the existing facility vacated by these services will be renovated to provide support services.

OHM will refinance $4.8 million of existing debt with this loan. At a mortgage interest rate of 4.79 percent, FHA insurance will save OMH approximately $4.3 million in interest expense over the life of the loan.

Jacksonville is home to Camp Lejeune, the largest Marine Base in the world (over 47,000 Marines). Onslow County, population 151,350, is in the southeastern portion of the state and borders the Atlantic Ocean. OMH is currently the fifth largest employer in the county with 794 employees. This new project will generate an estimated 78 construction-related jobs.

Onslow County Hospital Authority's hospital project will be the fourth in North Carolina secured by Section 242 mortgage insurance. FHA currently insures projects for Betsy Johnson Hospital in Dunn ($22.5 million), Rowan Regional Medical Center in Salisbury ($80.7 million), and Morehead Memorial Hospital in Eden ($47.1 million).