Architectural rendering of what the future Neighborhood Health Association clinic will look like.
Site plans for a new and expanded Neighborhood Health Association medical clinic on what was once a near-downtown auto dealership were approved on Thursday by the Toledo Plan Commission.
Neighborhood Health, a federally qualified health-care provider that operates in 12 locations in the city, plans to break ground in October on the 42,000-square-foot building on Jefferson and 14th streets, said Doni Miller, the agency’s administrator.
The $12 million clinic will be built on the southwest corner of Jefferson and 14th. The parking lot for employees and patients will be across the street.
The property had been part of the auto dealership of Taylor Cadillac for many years. The company transferred the four-acre site to the Lucas County Land Bank in 2011. The health-care agency obtained the land in 2012.
The plan commission approved site plans for the design and construction of the building, parking lot, and landscaping, 4-0, with 46 conditions.
“It will be nice to see something on that space. It has been vacant for so long,” plan commission member Olivia Holden said.
Scot Rossi of Rossi and Associates architects told the commission that Neighborhood Health will consolidate medical and health services now offered elsewhere into one central facility.
Services offered at the clinic will include primary and pediatric care, women’s health, cardiology, podiatry, geriatrics, dental, and pharmacy as well as an urgent care center with expanded hours.
“We are hoping to have somewhere around 60,000 visits out of that site each year,” Ms. Miller said. “There will be a lot of services out of that building. We are trying to make it simple for our patients.”
The agency was awarded a $5 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to build the facility, and the rest of the construction costs will be financed through the Toledo affiliate of Local Initiatives Support Corp., Ms. Miller said.
The building should be completed and ready for occupancy in late 2015 or early 2016, Mr. Rossi and Ms. Miller said.
Ms. Miller said a cafe will operate in the clinic that will be used to train selected patients who have limited job skills and experience to prepare them to enter the work force.
The clinic also will assist in the medical and health needs of the area’s homeless population, including residents of local shelters.
Ms. Miller said the new building will allow the agency to reduce the number of sites it operates, and will put it in a location that will provide services to more patients.
She said most of the existing clinics are tucked away in residential areas, but the future clinic will be on the TARTA bus route, making it more accessible to patients.
“This will make it more visible,” she said.
Contact Mark Reiter at: markreiter@theblade.com or 419-724-6199.