Last edited 3:07 p.m., July 7, 2014The Jordan Valley Community Health Center today opened the John D. Bentley, M.D., Center for Health and Wellness, a 30,000-square-foot building on the south side of the center city clinic.
With the nearly $10 million addition, the federally qualified health center, 440 E. Tampa St., has a 105,000-square-foot campus under one roof, offering primary care, women’s health, pediatrics, geriatrics and oral health. The building will be fully complete and dedicated in the fall, said Megan Nichols Rowe, a spokeswoman for the clinic.
The Bentley Center, named after co-founder and 50-year physician Dr. John Bentley, houses 46 exam rooms, a pain management clinic, provider offices and urgent care, including dental.
Jordan Valley Community Health Center President Brooks Miller said federal funds through the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration covered half the cost.
The $5 million grant, however, almost didn’t materialize. Miller said funds were made available with anticipation of Medicaid expansion, and with that authority shifting to the states, Missouri has not opted to expand.
“They rolled the money out, and the Supreme Court ruled. We were kind of a little bit caught there,” Miller said. “We felt we could go ahead and fulfill the objective.”
Standing in the center lobby July 3, he said the government is making good on the grant money and the finishing construction work is evidence the center is fulfilling its obligations.
“Our volumes continue to grow,” he said of the 3,000 unique individuals per month.
On Thursday, construction and maintenance crews were changing out office doors, running network wiring and gluing wood panels on workstations. Clinic operations moved in over the weekend, and providers started accepting patients today, said Rowe.
The Bentley Center also houses Burrell Behavioral Health programs and a Walgreens pharmacy. Miller said Jordan Valley modeled the 1,900-square-foot Walgreens arrangement after a qualified health center in Houston, Texas.
“It’s becoming more prevalent,” he said, noting the pharmacy can fill all patients’ prescriptions, not just those written by Jordan Valley doctors. “If one of our patients had an ER script, they couldn’t fill it here. Now, they’ll have that opportunity.”
The building was originally used as a warehouse by Lester Cox’s Ford tractor dealership, and it recently was slated to house the Greene County morgue before Jordan Valley officials purchased it.
“We were fortunate to get it and continue our campus,” Miller said.
Originally, Jordan Valley had planned a 30,000-square-foot clinic across the street from its main building, but the health center would have lost its primary parking lot. Miller said with dental services moving to the Bentley Center, Jordan Valley plans to sell its dental clinic across the street.
Bentley’s family and friends christened the new space with a private reception June 26 and unveiled a plaque recognizing his 50 years in medicine. Springfield Business Journal will honor Bentley with the Lifetime Achievement in Business award July 24 during the annual
Economic Impact Awards.
