PINCKNEYVILLE, Ill. — In southern Illinois, where rural living takes precedence over urban settings, local tax dollars are scarce. Other sources of revenue also are limited.

So when leaders of the small local hospital in Pinckneyville decided a few years ago they had no choice but pursue improvements or build a new facility, they had few places to turn for financing. Now they’re banking on approval from the USDA for a low-interest, 40-year loan that will cover nearly 80 percent of the cost of an estimated $23 million new hospital.

It would come from part of the USDA’s Rural Development Community Facilities Program, and Pinckneyville Community Hospital’s Tom Hudgins said he’s optimistic – and thankful that such funding from the USDA is available – of winning approval later this fall.

Secretary Tom Vilsack and other USDA officials announced in late May the awarding of the latest loans and grants for community facilities, for 38 projects in 21 states. The primary criterion for qualification is that a project serve an area with a population of no greater than 20,000 people. Loans this spring total about $45.04 million and grants total nearly $613,000. “Quality hospitals, schools and libraries are the building blocks for a vibrant rural America,” Vilsack said.

The agency’s program supports essential infrastructure and services for public use, and covers a broad range for health care, education, public safety and public services. It has an active portfolio of more than $165 billion in affordable loans and loan guarantees.

Hudgins said the Pinckneyville loan would be at an interest rate of 3.35 percent for 40 years.

The biggest loan of the most recent package awarded went to another health care facility in Kentucky. The Russell County Hospital District Health Facilities Corp. will use a $21 million loan to expand its hospital with a new and centralized emergency room, radiology, laboratory and surgery areas.

Other awards for Farm World states include:

•$100,000 for the Family Counseling Center, Inc. to construct a new eight-bed group home in Rosiclare, Ill.

•$200,000 for the Ferrell Hospital Community Foundation to add about 3,000 square feet to the existing clinic building

•$25,380 to the Upper Des Moines Opportunity, Inc. for the purchase of an existing childcare facility to continue providing early education programs in partnership with the Storm Lake Public Schools

•$3,100 for the Peru Rescue Station in Illinois for the purchase of communications equipment that converts wideband to narrowband