CONCORD -- Emerson Hospital has landed a $2.5 million tax-exempt lease from MassDevelopment, to be used for buying information technology equipment and fetal monitors, an instrument container system, and patient beds.

MassDevelopment's tax-exempt leases act essentially as installment loans, according to Kelsey Abbruzzese, a spokeswoman for the quasi-government agency. An investor lends funds to the borrower to purchase equipment and complete any related renovations, and the borrower agrees to make periodic fixed-rate payments, she said.

Generally, the borrower leases the equipment for a length of time approximating the useful economic life of the equipment. At the end of the lease term, the borrower typically pays a nominal fee and assumes ownership.

Founded in 1911, Emerson Hospital has 179 beds with more than 300 primary-care doctors and specialists. In addition to its main campus in Concord, Emerson Hospital treats patients at three other locations in Westford, Groton and Sudbury.