Adams County Health Center Inc. Moves to New Building
By Kelsey Adams-Mortensen, ACHC Marketing Director
March 26, 2024
COUNCIL, Idaho-Healthcare professionals at Adams County Health Center Inc. (ACHC) started seeing patients in the new clinic building on March 4.
To make that possible, members of the ACHC team had to start by closing the dental department on February 27, 28 and 29 to move equipment. Then on March 1, the entire clinic was closed for the final push to get the rest of the essential equipment from all the departments into the new clinic.
“I was told by Sue Warner, a family nurse practitioner at ACHC, that on May 1, 1962 the hospital moved from the old hospital, which has now been torn down into an updated hospital, which ended up being the old clinic building,” said Mendy Stanford, CEO of ACHC. “Now, 62 years later, on March 1, 2024, we finished moving into a new state of the art fancy clinic just adjacent to the helicopter pad. I am so excited to be in the new clinic and I am sure patients are going to love it, because we all love working in a new space.”
Construction on the new clinic is still underway, but since it has been deemed safe for patient care, all departments have been working out of the new building since March 4.
“This was a massive move for our clinic, and I couldn’t be prouder of how our team came together to get the job done,” said Melissa Roundtree, ACHC’s office manager. “We are very excited to be working out of our fantastic new building even though it is still an active construction site. We just ask that patients please follow all posted guidance on signs and listen to any safety instructions given by staff members when inside of our clinic.”
According to Stanford and Wendy Mott, CFO of ACHC, the official grand opening for the new building will not occur until the building and landscaping are both completed. At this time, construction is scheduled to be completed by the end of Spring or beginning of Summer of this year.
“We, Wendy and I, want to wait for a grand opening until all of the landscaping has been completed and the buildings have been painted, because even though we are currently working in the new building there is still a lot of construction happening,” said Stanford. “We think doing the grand opening once everything has been completed, will make it easier for everyone in the community to see just how beautiful, functional and updated the new buildings are, as compared to the old clinic.”
As staff members are working in the new building, many people have wondered what is going to happen to the old clinic building.
“As far as the old clinic goes, we will be using it for storage until we have moved everything we need to the new clinic,” said Mott. “Eventually we will be looking for a grant or grants to have it demolished. It is riddled with lead paint and asbestos, the sewer pipes within the building are collapsing and the wiring is not up to code.”
As with any major move, it takes a lot of time and dedication to ensure the day-to-day operations are running smoothly.
“The move went so smoothly with employees and family pitching in, and we are continually amazed at how well our team works together,” said Mott. “Not only did all departments work together to make the move easier but they have all helped in trying to create a new flow. We do ask that our patients continue to have patience with us while we figure out our new day to day and while the construction continues.”
According to Mott, land scaping is scheduled to start the week of March 18, so there will be dirt, gravel, trees, and plants being moved via tractors and people. Additionally, there will also still be construction workers inside the clinic working to finish up all the projects and last-minute touchups.
ACHC experienced unprecedented growth over the past eight years. In 2016 there were a total of 6,157 visits by 2,015 patients in all departments. By the end of 2023, ACHC providers had seen a total of 2,900 individual patients that resulted in over 10,249 visits.
The old building was a good healthcare home to this community for a long time. However, a new and bigger building is just what the doctor prescribed to allow ACHC staff members to continue to provide the quality health services that patients have come to expect.
ACHC is a Federally Qualified Health Center that strives to provide high quality health care services to residents and visitors of Adams, Washington, Valley, Idaho and surrounding counties. With healthcare facilities few and far between, ACHC offers an array of services to meet the healthcare needs of everyone, regardless of social or economic status. Some of the services ACHC currently offers are primary care, dental, pharmacy, laboratory, optometry, behavioral health, physical therapy, diabetes care, immunizations, financial and insurance.
