by: DeAngela McDougaldRegionalism at its finest.
That’s the best way to describe the Children’s Mercy and Geary Community Hospital partnership to include specialty clinics for children ages birth to 21.
Construction on the nearly 7000 square foot clinic will service over 800 children from the Junction City that were seen in Kansas City in the past year, in addition to hundreds of other families from across the region.
“Certainly it will impact Junction City and Geary County, but it will be much broader than that – it will be a regional service for many different children and families,” said Joseph Stratton, Geary Community Hospital (GCH) CEO.
The Children’s Mercy Clinic inside GCH will be located in the lower level of the hospital and include twelve exam rooms, three dictation pods, two treatment rooms, height/weight rooms, restrooms, a nurses station and a reception area.
There will also be a drive up entrance with a Children’s Mercy canopy for direct access to the clinic. “The space is going to be a kid-friendly space, a lot of bright colors, a lot of bright design,” said Stratton.
Each Children’s Mercy Clinic has a different theme – for example an aviation design in Wichita. Early ideas for themes in GCH include cars, trucks, jeeps, and possibly tanks to tie in with the military in the region. Final design plans are still months away.
“Some of these ventures or partnerships that come together are kind of like a crawl, walk, run – they develop over time,” said Stratton. “We have a long term agreement with Children’s Mercy to occupy the space, so we very possibly could be having another conversation five years from now about the additional space that’s needed for other services.”
The clinic will definitely be a financial boost to GCH; but early estimates on the financial impact are still uncertain due to the nature of the partnership.
“[Children’s Mercy] will take care of a lot of services that take place in the clinic, and when they come outside the clinic and need to take care of other services, we at Geary Community Hospital – here in our facility – will be able to provide those services for them.”
The clinic will be staffed by at least three specialty physicians from Children’s Mercy.
The project is projected to cost $1.9 million and be complete by the Spring of 2018. The project was privately funded by the Geary Community Healthcare Foundation, the R2B4 Bramlage Family Foundation, and other regional foundations.
