Agency prepares for construction of clinic

May 10, 2005

DAWN DE BUSK/Frontiersman reporter

WASILLA - Employees at Behavioral Health Services of Mat-Su Inc. will be doing a little rearranging this summer to accommodate a new family member who will be moving in this fall, according to Chief Executive Officer Maryalice Larson.

BHSMS was awarded $650,000 to renovate its building and provide the community with a new primary health-care clinic in its east wing. Currently, the BHSMS offices are located in the east wing, and therapy groups meet in the west wing.

As soon as the agency receives the first portion of the grant, it will hire the contractors to install a few walls, making one big room into two smaller rooms in the west wing of the building. During the renovation period, BHSMS plans to keep its doors open.

"We have to serve the people during this transition time. What's good about the thick doors is they'll keep employees and clients insulated from the noise," Larson said.

Through a variety of programs and counseling, the agency serves emotionally disturbed adults and children, mentally ill individuals and people experiencing acute psychiatric crises. BHSMS also provides 24-hour emergency services and crisis intervention.

During the first nine months of operation, the clinic will provide jobs for a medical director, doctor or advanced nurse practitioner and a nurse, Larson said. A receptionist and a medical records expert will also be hired.

Depending on the needs of the community, a full staff could include as many as seven or eight people, Larson said. Three health-care providers - either physicians or advanced nurse practitioners - might be necessary if the clinic starts seeing a high number of patients, Larson said.

Larson anticipates a three-month timeline for getting the low-cost health clinic up and running.

"We're targeting Sept. 6 as the day to open the center. They build things so fast these days. It won't take any time at all to be completed," she said, adding that it will only take a couple of days for the BHSMS staff to move into the improved west wing.

Then, construction work will resume on the east wing. The therapists' offices will be transformed into rooms where doctors examine patients. Cabinets for medical supplies and sinks will be installed. A group therapy room will become a commons area for the nurses.

The minimal amount of renovation required is one of the reasons the agency received the grant, Larson said.

The architects designed the center with expansion in mind. The facility - located on lakeside property, at 1363 W. Spruce Ave. in Wasilla - was created with an eye toward future construction of a third wing. The water and septic system were put in place to sustain a bigger building.

Down the road, Larson plans to apply for another grant, supplying the funding to build a third wing that would house a low-cost dental clinic.

BHSMS was designated as a federally qualified community health center, and was awarded the funding by the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Resources.

In the early 1960s, then-President John F. Kennedy had been trying to establish Community Health Center grants for the nation, according to Larson.

"He recognized that there were groups of people who were uninsured," she said.

"It's my understanding that the Sunshine Clinic has been a godsend for that community, in the northern Mat Su Borough," said John Cannon, executive director of Mat-Su Services for Children & Adults. The Sunshine Community Health Center, which is one center with two locations, serves residents of Willow and Talkeetna.

"For us, a community health center is going to be a great resource," Cannon said.

Contact Dawn De Busk at 352-2252, or dawn.debusk@ frontiersman.com.