Expansion Underway at High Plains Community Health Center Pediatric Clinic

By Rachel Leber

LAMAR, Colo. – Expansion is underway at the High Plains Community Health Center Pediatric Clinic in Lamar, after a groundbreaking on the site last fall. Projected completion on the project is expected by the end of July of 2018.

The expansion will add 2,000 square feet to the building south of the main clinic on Kendall avenue, and has a budget of $1 million. HGF Architects, Inc. out of Pueblo, Colo., is the architect on the project, with MonCor, LLC out of Lamar serving as the builder. The primary impact of the expansion will be to create more space for the pediatric clinic, in addition to providing more work and office space for the dental clinic, located in an adjacent building.

The dental clinic wasn’t originally included in the plans but it has been experiencing high levels of patients with the practice principal having to get new employees to sign a dental contract in order to get them started as soon as possible. So, it seemed logical to include more clinic rooms and a better reception area for the clinic in the plans.

The expansion will extend the current pediatric clinic building westward, making the building into a rectangle shape. The separate entrances of the pediatric and dental buildings will combine to create one entrance with a shared waiting room. The new waiting room will offer a double receptionist area, a private breastfeeding area and two play areas for young children.

The pediatric office itself will gain seven new exam rooms and two new procedure rooms. The current exam rooms will be remodeled and converted into a new lab and office spaces for the pediatric staff. In addition, the pediatric office will house a new behavioral health clinician office onsite and will create the potential for adding an another pediatric provider in the clinic in the future.

“At one point, we were looking at losing all of our physicians – those who had been thinking of leaving the community,” said Jim Farmer, vice president of the High Plains Board in a recent interview with Prowers Journal. “A number of people combined their efforts – the clinic, the hospital, Jane May, who helped write the grants. All came together to continue and expand the quality, affordable and accessible health care for southeast Colorado.”

The project will include two phases of construction, with the first phase including underground demolition, excavation and ground moving. The second phase will include the new addition being attached and the interior remodeling of the pediatric clinic.

The pediatric clinic will be shut down during the construction process, with pediatric doctor Gino Figlio seeing patients out of the main High Plains office located at 201 Kendall Drive until construction and renovations are complete. The dental clinic will continue to operate out of the current space, with changes to building entrance and parking until construction is complete.