A $200,000 grant from the U.S. Health and Human Services will eventually lead to the addition of six employees at the Northwest Community Health Center. Executive Director Maria Clemons said she plans to hire a medical provider, a pharmacist and ancillary staff.

“It is exciting to be able to offer further services to the community with the help of this grant,” Clemons said. “We’re always the organization that picks up the gaps in the community. Our goal is to take care of the needs of the underserved.”

The addition of a medical provider will allow the health center to expand with what Clemons calls a growing client base. The pharmacist will serve a collaborative role, working with physicians to determine appropriate medications and treatments.   

The grant was awarded mid-September as a small part of a $295 million national investment in community health centers nationwide. The spending is part of the Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare. A total of 1,195 health centers are expected to hire 4,750 new staff.

Reception of the grant coincided with groundbreaking of the community health center’s expansion and renovation project. Work began Sept. 22, and Clemons said she hopes to open the new facility in six months. She expects the project to be completed within 12 months.

The $2 million project will remodel 4,000 square feet and add 8,800 square feet. Clemons said her team spent 18 months discussing the project before hiring Swank Enterprises to do the general contracting work. The new design will relocate administrative offices to a second floor while opening rooms for exams, therapy and procedures on the first floor. The majority of the new space is dedicated to clinical procedures.

The community health center expanded services in February when it assumed oversight of the area’s Special Supplemental Nutritional Program for Women, Infants and Chidren (WIC). The program was previously handled by Lincoln County before budget restrictions led county commissioners to seek another agency. There are just fewer than 400 WIC participants in the county. The community health center served more than 6,200 individuals last year and added one staff member after taking on WIC. At the time of the takeover, Clemons said the transition of the program into the community health center was a natural one since many patients are also WIC participants.