Construction of a new Hillsboro Community Hospital has been delayed.

In a written release from Michael Ryan, chief executive officer of HCH, he stated he recently met with officials from HMC/CAH Consolidated.

“Although the nation’s economy is down, HMC/CAH Consolidated maintains its position with Hillsboro,” said Gary Clifton of HMC/CAH. “HMC continues to work diligently to find a reliable source of funding as quickly as possible. Like many other health care related construction projects in the nation, the HCH project is being temporarily delayed because lenders have stopped lending.”

Originally, the company was planning to break ground and begun construction after the city approved zoning requirements.

HMC/CAH Consolidated, Inc. remains strongly committed to the needs of our hospital and those of our community,” Ryan said. “Because of their strong support, they remain actively engaged in moving forward with financing and resulting construction process. We are looking forward to the time when the credit market frees-up and construction can move ahead.”