A far western Kentucky nonprofit nursing home has received a nearly $1 million federal grant to help build a new facility that will replace an existing building that’s more than 50 years old.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development grant will help fund construction of a 56-room nursing home for the nonprofit Clinton and Hickman County Hospital, which runs the existing Hickman-Clinton County ICF nursing home.
Billy Little is the board chairman for the nonprofit — which originally started as the county hospital — where he served as an administrator for years before it closed in the 1980s. The nursing home associated with the hospital has continued operating under the same nonprofit organization.
Little said the new facility will provide elderly residents with private rooms and showers, a need that became apparent when the COVID-19 pandemic reached the rural county of about 4,500 people. The existing 46-room nursing home has shared toilets, common shower areas and semi-private rooms.
“You're trying to isolate a person for a few days, it just makes sense. For infection control, it's the only way to go,” Little said.
The new facility — to be built on land across from the Greg’s Supermarket in Clinton — is planned to take up 46,800 square feet and feature a nutrition station, a fully equipped kitchen, an inpatient and outpatient physical therapy room and more.
Little said he hopes to receive bids from construction companies soon The nonprofit is still seeking financing for the project, which he estimates will come in slightly under $10 million.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau estimates, about 1 in 4 residents in Hickman County are 65 years old or older.
