Construction starts on Quincy Community Health clinic

QUINCY - Construction began recently on an expanded, about $9 million Quincy Community Health Center.

The new building, one story and about 22,300 square feet, will replace the existing complex of modular buildings, said Lynn Bales, director of operations in Quincy.

"We're starting over from scratch," she said. The new building should be completed by April 2014, with completion of the entire project, including parking lots and landscaping, by June 2014.

Quincy is part of the community health centers network based in Moses Lake, and the organization is using some of its reserves for the project, along with traditional lending sources and a program of federal tax credits for community development, said Chief Financial Officer Mike Herrell.

The current facility consists of three modular buildings, "but we ran out of space," Bales said.

Administrators expect the clinic to keep growing and wanted to make room, she said.

Administrators decided it would be too difficult to expand the modular buildings, she said, and there was space on the site to build one building that would accommodate all services under one roof.

The new facility will have room for up to eight medical providers and 24 exam rooms, Bales said, a dental office with room for seven patients and the potential for expansion to nine patients. The new dental office will have room for two dentists and a dental hygienist, she said.

All services that are moved offsite during construction will have space in the new building, Bales said. The expanded clinic also will include a meeting room available to the community as well as smaller conference room, she said.

Two of the modular buildings have been removed and the services moved to other locations, Bales said. Services that needed new homes include the Women, Infants, Children (WIC) and Maternity Support Services (MSS) programs as well as Behavioral Health.

The remaining building will be in use until the new building is finished, Bales said, then will be removed for the new patient parking lot.