A $1 million grant has been approved for a new health center in Henryetta.
eofhcThe grant for the East Central Oklahoma Family Health Center (ECOFHC) was approved last week by the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA).
Those funds will be used to construct an approximate 5,600 square foot medical facility at the Shurden-Leist Industrial Park. :This state of the art building project has resulted from a collaborative effort between ECOFHC, the City of Henryetta, EPA and ODEQ. This project is supported by state and federal elected officials."
Dyer said the new facility will consolidate two offices currently seeing patients from the area.
When in full operation, around 30 people will be employing there. That is nearly double the existing staff.
"Everyone was excited when I made the announcement at our office in Wetumka," Dyer said. "We were in the running for the first round of funding, however was funded for the second round."
Statewide, $5 million in health-related projects were approved by HRSA. They include work in Lawton, Cherokee, Broken Bow, Tulsa and Oklahoma City.
She said meetings will be held in coming weeks preparing the floorplan for the building and site requirements and bid documents. A date for construction start has not been set although Dyer expected it to be at least six to eight months away.
She said officials from the EPA and DEQ have been on board with the project from the beginning. During the actual construction, DEQ officials will make sure the work doesn't allow any hazardous materials to be released.shurden
ECOFHC is a Federally Qualified Health Center which accepts most insurances, Veteran's Choice, Medicaid (SoonerCare), Medicare and the uninsured. ECOFHC continues to accept new patients at our two Henryetta locations. For primary health care, Dr. Gary Lovell, Chief Medical Officer, Rebecca Helms - Nurse Practitioner and Andrea Coy - Physician's Assistant are located at 1102 West Main, Henryetta. For dental health care, Dr. E.M. Nelson, D.D.S and Ashley Baird - Dental Hygienist is located at 217 South 5th, Henryetta. Rachel Lindemann - LPC provides counseling and now Hypnotherapy for Smoking Cessation, Weight Loss and Stress Relief. 340B pharmacy services for ECOFHC patients are provided at Henryetta Drug.
Dyer states the "ECOFHC's mission is to provide affordable, high quality, patient centered health care for East Central Oklahoma. This is an exciting time for ECOFHC and Henryetta".
This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under C8DCS29734, Health Infrastructure Investment Program in the amount of $1,000,000. 24.46% of this project is funded through nonfederal and local resources. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government