27 Aug
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| Patients now can walk up to check-in stations that are eye level with receptionists. Here, receptionist Liz Vargas and dental hygienist Rebecca Hooyer help a patient from behind one of the check-in desks. |
by Derrick Vander Waal
SIOUX CENTER, IOWA – Patients no longer have to navigate a construction zone as they come into Promise Community Health Center.
SIOUX CENTER, IOWA – Patients no longer have to navigate a construction zone as they come into Promise Community Health Center.
For the past month, reception staff occupied desks in the waiting area as the remodeling project was being completed.
Now, the front reception remodeling project is mostly finished.
The remodeling project ensued in late July following completion of a 3,000-square-foot expansion project on the east side of Promise’s building in downtown Sioux Center – increasing the health center’s space by about 60 percent.
Nancy Dykstra, executive director for Promise, noted that the building project was designed to enhance the “patient-centered medical home goals” of Promise. In particular, patients will notice the benefit to them in the remodeled front reception area.
“When they enter the building, they will find more room in our reception area, and they will find a more welcoming, patient-friendly environment,” she said.
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| Community care coordinator Fatima Arteaga talks on the telephone with a patient. Patients now can easily sit down at chairs to talk to Promise’s outreach staff about various needs. |
As patients come into the front door, four check-in stations are situated at standing height to the right. Patients can walk right up to a receptionist who is sitting at eye level to them.
Two lower stations are located to the left for Promise’s outreach staff. People can sit down in chairs to have conversations with community care coordinators about various needs – ranging from assistance in enrolling in health insurance programs and various government programs to referrals to other community resources that can help them.
Also as part of the remodeling project, a two-unit work pod for the medical providers in the clinic area was redone with a more open feel. The former break room also was converted into two back-to-back work pods for clinical staff. Promise’s medical providers, nurses and behavioral health personnel will work out of those areas.
Promise still is equipping and furnishing a few areas, some painting needs to be finished and some exterior improvements will be completed, but the most of the work outlined in the remodeling project has been checked off the list.
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| Promise’s former break room was converted into two back-to-back work pods for providers. Medical staff will move into this area soon. |
“We especially wish to thank our patients and patrons who were patient with us during this remodel as we continued to operate and provide services during the construction phases,” Dykstra said. “It was often noisy, a bit messy and dusty.”
Staff moved into the expansion area in late June. That portion of the project included a community education/conference room, a prenatal/OB wing with a two-unit work pod and two exams rooms, a behavioral health therapy room, four administrative staff offices, and an employee break room.
For more information and a photo tour of the expansion area, click here.
The expansion and renovation project was made possible thanks to a $250,000 federal capital improvement grant awarded in August 2015.
Promise Community Health Center, headquartered in Sioux Center, is the only Federally Qualified Health Center in the far northwest corner of Iowa. To learn more, visit www.promisechc.org.