PrairieStar readying for nearly $5 million expansion
The project at the federally-designated health clinic will grow the current 31,400-square-foot operation at
The center's board of directors voted last week to award the project to Weins Constructions of
Equipment to furnish the expansion is estimated at another
Construction is expected to start by mid-July, with completion targeted for the fall of 2019.
The project will be financed primarily through 25-year notes from
Unexpected growth
"When we built this three years ago, we estimated it would last 15 years," said PrairieStar CEO
"Literally the last person we hired we had to put in a closet," Anderson said. "It was a nice closet, but we still had to empty a closet out and make it office space. The growth has been very fast."
The expansion, which will add 18,000 square feet, is not only due to cramped quarters, but also to allow the agency to add vision services, making it a "one-stop shop" for health services, Anderson said.
Since it opened PrairieStar has offered traditional medical, pediatric, behavioral health, occupational medicine, dental care and walk-in care all under one roof.
In 2017, a small remodel allowed adding another dentist and expand those services. Now another remodel is required to accommodate its growing medical, pediatric and behavioral health offerings.
The biggest part of the expansion, however, is to add vision services, including a clinic and frame shop.
"Expanding into a vision clinic has been a goal for over two years," Johnston said. "It fits right in with the health and wellness for everyone in our community, of all ages and incomes. We will provide state-of-the-art equipment to bring needed eyecare and special testing for the patients."
They are attempting, Anderson said, to provide a "whole health care plan."
"People struggle to get that done," he said. "Also, it (vision) is a need some can't afford."
Following the expansion, the center will add optometrists, three more family practice doctors and one more pediatrician.
The plan
The expansion will involve two new structures attached to the existing building, which itself cost some
"The largest part of the addition will be on the west side of the building," Anderson said. "We'll make three penetrations through the existing west wall. Those will be connections and points of flow. Then we'll also add a small addition to the northeast corner for additional office space and conference space."
They'll also build a larger storage area, to enable the clinic to keep enough medical stores on hand to meet daily operational needs for patient care.
The addition will allow the clinic to modify its existing operations by creating a separate entrance for walk-in care.
"When we have a lot of flu, a lot of times people coming in to see their family doctor for routine or chronic conditions don't want to be mixed with folks carrying the flu," Anderson said. "We'll have a new entrance for walk-in care that will be front facing. We'll also have separate entrances for optometry and a new entrance for pediatrics. We have an added emphasis on pediatrics and want a receiving area for those parents."
"The only thing on the backside of the building will be the addition to the northeast to add office and meeting space," he said.
Two other modifications occurring with the remodel are a new garage and expanded parking.
The garage is so they can get a pair of vans they use for a mobile dental clinic at nursing homes and schools, which are too tall for the existing doors, inside the garage. They'll also add a small vehicle maintenance storage area, Anderson said.
The parking lot modification will actually be the first thing that's done.
"Under city code, in order to do this, we have to add quite a lot of parking spaces," Anderson said. "Some days we don't have a lot of parking. If we don't to that first, it will result in a lot of congestion. The new parking lot will be in front of the building, to the south of the existing lot, and a new area to the north of the existing lot."
After the parking lot, construction will commence on both sides of the building, he said.
Lots of credit
Anderson credited the surprising growth of the health center to several things.
"The old saying in business is 'location, location, location," he said. "I'd have to say location played a role. We're very visible where we are now. So many people go through that intersection (of 30th and K-61) that not many people don't know where we're at."
He also credited the marketing of the clinic by PrairieStar staff, particularly the work of Johnston.
"We continue to do traditional marketing, but we're doing a lot more social," Anderson said. "Secondly, we've put a lot heavier focus on how we market. We've increased our presence in targeted TV ads. It's more of a focus to help people understand what PrairieStar was, about the services we offer."
That, and the quality of their medical staff has helped bring in a higher share of paying patients, making the expansion possible.
"We service a lot more low-income people than do the other clinics in
They also have Medicare and Medicaid patients. But a higher percentage of patients than projected -- now close to 28 percent, Anderson said -- have health insurance coverage.
"In the healthcare industry, if you don't have practitioners, you can't take additional patients," he said. "We've just had a good run of hiring new practitioners. We've exceeded our expectations on how quickly we could hire to fill various exam areas."
Looking to the future, Anderson said, they're considering adding another family physician, more pediatrics or perhaps urology.
"Our mission is very clear," Anderson said. "It will always be to make sure people get care no matter what's going on, and we do that. We're committed to that. But to do that, you have to have money. There's an old saying 'No money, no mission.' If you don't have money, you can't carry out your mission. So it's exciting. We're very pleased that so many see us as an option for providing their care. We hope to see as many use our optometry as medical and dental walk-in care."
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