Northwest CHC to build new center in Troy
The Northwest Community Health Center secured two grants last week which will enable the center to expand its available services for the Troy community. The grants, awarded Sept. 15, will fund the construction of a new facility in Troy, as well as expanded staff to turn the Troy facility into a full-time clinic.
“Northwest Community Health Center has been dedicated to improving access to healthcare for nearly 14 years with the goal of providing high quality, patient-centered care to everyone regardless of their ability to pay,” said executive director Maria Clemons. “This grant allows us to further transform our delivery system to improve our patients’ experience as well as our ability to deliver accessible care for years to come.”
The first grant, a Health Infrastructure Investment Program award, will provide the center $710,850 to construct a new facility. Clemons said the board evaluated the space they currently lease in Troy with an eye toward remodeling, but decided it would be more cost-effective and better for the patients to construct a new facility.
“Northwest CHC did explore options to remodel the existing leased space for expanded services, however, we were unable to reach a mutually beneficial solution,” she said. “The patients’ experience in any of our locations is of the utmost importance, and the new up-to-date clinical design will improve patient flow, efficiency, comfort and privacy. It will further facilitate better communication within the care teams in an effort to support the organization’s patient-centered medical home philosophy.”
The new facility is planned at roughly 4,000 square feet, nearly three times the size of the current space. The anticipated year-long construction project is expected to begin in early 2016. Clemons said she hopes to see bids from local contractors on the project, but is obligated under the terms of the grant to follow federal bid-award procedures.
Clemons said the board learned about the availability of the infrastructure grant in the spring of 2015 and decided to apply, even though it was expected to be a difficult and competitive grant process.
“The board felt like we wanted to pursue this grant,” she said. “We knew it would be a really competitive process, so we didn’t want to get our hopes up, but we’re really excited to have been awarded the grant and look forward to expanding services to our patients in Troy.”
On the same day, the center was awarded an Expanded Services grant of $260,132, which Clemons said will enable the clinic to expand staff from it’s current level of 2.4 full-time equivalent employees to a planned level of 7.6 full-time equivalents.
“We’re going to need to recruit and retain a physician for that facility,” Clemons said. “But our plan is to get the staffing at that site up to 7.6 full-time equivalents and be open five days per week.”