By Fallan Patterson
Staff Writer

Despite laying off 15 percent of its workforce in April, the Osceola County Health Department is moving forward with the construction or expansion of several clinics, thanks to an $8.3 million grant awarded to the agency in October.

Poinciana area residents, who do not have a hospital within 10 miles of their epicenter, now have access to a permanent health care clinic, which provides primary care, pediatrics and maternity services.

The clinic, at 105 N. Doverplum Ave., offers a WIC office; WIC is a federally funded nutrition program for women, infants and children. Onsite labs for blood work and a clinic specifically for immunizations make the facility a one-stop shop for health care needs. County and federal officials gathered Monday to cut a ribbon officially opening the new building.

The clinic can accommodate up to 50 patients per day, Camille Bissainthe, Health Department spokeswoman, said.

The Poinciana facility — only the second Health Department location to do so (the other is at the department's main facility on Boggy Creek Road) — also offers dental services, which previously was not available in the temporary modular structures due to the hefty dental equipment, Barry said.

The dental facility includes four exam rooms, a dental lab and an X-ray machine. The agency recently hired a dentist, dental hygienist and dental assistant to run the program.  

The medical facility allows patients to avoid a potentially costly and possibly unneeded emergency room trip, Mary Ann Barry, the Federally-Qualified Health Centers chairwoman, said.

Poinciana’s biggest health concerns, Barry said, are diabetes and high blood pressure, adding a “startling” statistic emerged in 2003 that seven out of every 10 emergency room patients with a Poinciana ZIP code were not in emergency situations.

“We needed to expand,” Barry said. “We have a lot of patients here. We can be their doctor.”

With more residents in need of services offered by the Health Department due to the economy, Belinda Johnson-Cornett, the agency’s administrator, is excited to provide “quality care” to Poinciana residents.

“We’re excited because we value the community,” she said. “We’re hoping to continue to expand and meet the health care needs of the community in the future.”

Phase two

The temporary modules have been demolished to make way for the 16,000-square-foot, two-story medical clinic, which will house 17 exam rooms, an immunizations area and two labs on the ground floor, Bissainthe said.

The second floor will be shared by WIC and the dental department, including six dental exam rooms. A dental sterilization and lab area with X-ray capabilities also will be constructed, Bissainthe said, as well as two conference rooms.

“These are the current plans but it is subject to possible changes as we move forward,” she added.

The cost of Poinciana’s projects is $5.7 million, with the remainder of the grant going toward expanding the St. Cloud and Stadium Place Health Department properties by 4,000 square feet each.

The St. Cloud facility will increase from 10 to 21 exam rooms and Stadium Place will grow from 19 to 30 examination rooms.