The Community Health Center of Central Missouri was named one of the top three performing health centers in the state Wednesday, said Joseph Pierie, chief executive officer of the Missouri Primary Care Association.
As a reward, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Center Program awarded it $181,900 for quality improvements.
The recognition and rewards are indications the center is growing in the right direction, Pierie said.
Data from the federal department show the center received $5,000 for its work as an electronic health record reporter, $27,075 as a clinical quality improver, $43,825 for being a health center quality leader, $30,000 for enhancing access to care, $15,000 for addressing health disparities, $6,000 for advancing health information technology and $55,000 for achieving Patient-Centered Medical Home recognition- meaning it has a model of care that puts patients at the forefront.
The news came on the day when the center held a grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting at its new location, 1511 Christy Drive. The clinic began seeing patients at that site May 14, Chief Executive Officer Jeff Davis said.
The new location is a 27,000-square-foot building; it moved from a 17,000-square-foot one.
Cole County officials announced in December 2016 that it would buy the health center's old site at 3400 W. Truman Blvd., for $1.5 million, to house the county health department. The county has nearly completed preparations to move into that structure.
That move will allow the county health department to increase its footprint from approximately 7,700 square feet.
However, Wednesday was all about the Community Health Center, where more than 100 people gathered for the event.
Davis told those gathered that the center allows for a team approach to health care.
"All of our clinics now have health care and dental care," he told them.
The center has clinics in Jefferson City, California, Fulton and Linn.
Osage County Prosecuting Attorney Amanda Grellner, who also chairs the center's board of directors, said the growth is proof the center continues to provide quality services for its clients. And the new facility allows it to dream about providing more.
"We are beyond excited about our potential," Grellner said. "And the services we are going to be able to offer."
The center already offers pediatrics, family medicine, dental care, women's health, chronic disease management, pain management, prescription assistance, behavioral health, school and work physicals, portable dentistry and more.
The new facility is working well, Davis said.
"We just have to make some tweaks," he said. "We're seeing a lot more patients."
Since moving, the center has hired another nurse practitioner and dentist, he added.
Tom Niekamp, who serves on the center's board, said he has been around long enough to see the facility go from a free clinic to a multi-location organization.
"If people can't get in (other clinics or hospitals), they can still get treatment here at a reasonable cost," Niekamp said.
The center charges on a sliding scale, depending on what people can pay.
"There are plenty of patients to go around," he said.
And the center partners with Capital Region Medical Center, Niekamp said. If, for example, a dental patient needs a treatment that requires nitrous oxide, they can perform that service at the hospital, he said.
This spring, it began using a new recreational vehicle for delivery of dental services to schools in the four counties the center serves - Cole, Moniteau, Osage and Callaway - said Sherri O'Dowd, manager of clinics.
For four years, the center has taken dental equipment to area schools in vans and transferred the equipment into a classroom or other area the schools made available. As classes begin, the RV will replace the vans hauling dental equipment around. And instead of schlepping equipment inside, the RV is set up with an intake area, three dentists' chairs and X-ray machines.
It has equipment for sterilization.
The center has agreements to take the RV to all but about three schools in the four counties it serves, dental clinical manager Cassidy Bax said.
It used to go into nursing homes to help provide pain relief for residents. Staff hope that will resume. In October, it will participate in Project Homeless Connect. The annual project connects homeless people to services they need. It's oftentimes the only chance they get to have dental services.
Bax said many of the clients they see at the event are suffering from some sort of tooth decay.
"We do extractions all day to get them out of pain," she said.