By DEBORAH GERTZ HUSAR
Herald-Whig Staff Writer
PITTSFIELD, Ill. -- The Health and Wellness Foundation of Pike County will break ground in July on a $2 million consolidated health complex on the former Brown Shoe factory site in Pittsfield.
Plans call for the up-to-30,000-square-foot multi-level facility to house the Pike County Health Department, a safety net dental clinic, the HWFPC office and other health and human services agencies serving the county. The project "will enable those
seeking services in Pike County and residents to go to one consolidated facility and have their needs met under one roof," HWFPC Executive Director Patty McIntosh said. "We also really like the fact this particular property can be looked at as an extension of the courthouse square. People
can walk downtown, go to other merchants, have lunch, do banking."
HWFPC announced details of the consolidated health complex at a Monday afternoon press conference. Construction should be complete by fall 2012 on the largest project undertaken to date by the foundation, formerly known as Illini Community Health
Care Foundation.
Key to the project is a partnership with the Pike County Health Department. The foundation proposed, and the Board of Health approved, a plan to build space for the health department in the complex and, in return, take the deed on the existing
property at 113 E. Jefferson.
"We saw it as a very important piece of sharing access to care and coordination of services," Health Department Administrator Anita Andress said. "This will allow us to run both the dental clinic and the current health department services under one roof."
The foundation will determine the future of the current health department, built as a grocery store.
"We don't think anyone out there will want to purchase the property to utilize the building. Frankly it would require too much work, but it's a very desirable footprint," McIntosh said. "We will get them positioned in a new facility, give them the opportunity to expand into
new services or work more efficiently and effectively. When you build out space exactly to do work you do, it's a much greater advantage than working to retrofit a facility." Project architect will be JH Petty Associates, Ltd. Principal of the Springfield firm is
Joe Petty, a Pittsfield native with a strong interest in his hometown and the well-being of the county.
"We're having a kickoff meeting today with stakeholders, and the architectural firm will begin meeting with individual stakeholders to understand their specific needs, what they need to incorporate in their facility and how those needs can be met," McIntosh said.
The project brings the popular "medical mall" concept to the county.
"It makes sense to have a variety of services readily accessible to people as they need them," McIntosh said. HWFPC has been in ongoing discussion with other agencies to explore and finalize their interest in participating in the project. Remaining
project partners will be announced in the next several months as letters of intent are executed.
"The foundation is pleased to help health service providers in Pike County in maximizing local resources so as to better serve every resident not just today, but years into the future," Walker Filbert, HWFPC secretary/treasurer and a member of the project's building
committee, said. The project will use the "condominium concept" with each entity owning its own space and paying maintenance fees for shared spaces.
"It's not our desire to be a landlord," McIntosh said. "Everyone builds out their space to what their needs are, not to retrofit." The foundation will own its office space. The health department will own its office and the dental clinic.
Planning for the facility began a year ago as the foundation began working to acquire the Brown Shoe site. The Pittsfield City Council in July accepted the foundation's offer to buy just over half the former factory property from the city for $58,391 -- the same amount the
city paid to buy back the property from the Education and Community Health Organization of Pike County. "It was a slow plodding race to get everything in place. Now we're off and running," McIntosh said.
The facility will be built without use of taxpayer dollars. "We are leveraging our assets to do what we need to do to build the building," McIntosh said. "We feel it's a true representation of our mission and what we should be doing at this point."
Perhaps most important, McIntosh said, is the project positions the county well for the future. "With the financial pressures in the state and at the federal level, we already have seen how the estate is looking to find ways to maximize what limited
funding they have. Should they say at some point we don't believe every county needs a health department, we feel very concerned about that decision could affect Pike County given the state of its physical building, not the level of quality of service," she said.
"We simply cannot afford to have that leave Pike County. If you look at a new state-of-the-art facility with the additional services of the clinic, it obviously becomes the regional center." -- dhusar@whig.com/221-3379
A consolidated health complex planned by the Health and Wellness Foundation of Pike County will: º Enable Pike County residents to obtain the services they need at one location, with ease of access, adjacent to Pittsfield's courthouse square.
º Partner with Pike County health and human services providers to better address residents' anticipated health needs. º Implement the "medical mall" model within a facility that has ease of access, plentiful parking and state-of-the-art components.
º Stimulate the local economy through extensive new construction, attracting other projects to Pittsfield and keeping more resident sin Pike County for ambulatory health services.
Plans call for the
up-to-30,000-square-foot multi-level facility to house the Pike County Health Department, a safety net dental clinic, the Health and Wellness Foundation of Pike County office and other health and human services agencies serving the county. (Photo Courtesy of JH Petty Associates, Ltd.)