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U.S. Department of Agriculture USDA Deputy Agriculture Secretary Jewel Bronaugh visits the construction site of the Medical West Hospital with Congresswoman Terri Sewell, and USDA Rural Development RD Undersecretary Xochitl Torres Small and other stakeholders on January 26, 2021, in Bessemer, AL. She will announce more than $1 billion in investments that will transform rural areas across the country. Of this, Bessemer’s Medical West Hospital Authority will use a USDA Rural Development $360 million Community Facilities Direct Loan to build a state-of-the-art, 200-bed hospital. It will feature a 26-room emergency department, 12 operating rooms, eight labor and delivery rooms, and eight multi-purpose rooms. This 405,186- square-foot facility will be strategically located to serve rural west Jefferson County, rural west Tuscaloosa County, and other surrounding rural communities. This project will benefit approximately 333,000 rural people in these communities.