12/22/2022 -  

Knox Public Health has announced the purchase of property in downtown Mount Vernon
for development of a new combined location for the Knox County Community Health
Center and the health department. The purchased property encompasses both the north
and south sides of the 200 block of West Vine Street. It is the former location of Strang
Glass and several public and private parking lots.

Acquisition of the property was recently approved by the Knox County Board of Health
and the Health Center’s Co-Applicant Board, and finalized this week with the seller.
Program income from the Health Center is the funding source used to purchase the
property, not local tax dollars as those funds are appropriated for operational expenses
and cannot be used for property acquisition.

The property purchase caps a much-publicized 4-year search for new space. “The
downtown area has always been the desired destination for a new location,” said Health
Commissioner Zach Green. “A downtown location offers better access for our health
center patients and a centralized site for public health services.”

After many years of sharing space with other agencies, the health department moved
into its current location at 11660 Upper Gilchrist Rd in May of 2001. In December of
2016, the agency announced it had been awarded a grant to open a Federally Qualified
Health Center. The Knox County Community Health Center opened for business inside
the health department in April 2017 offering dental and medical services. In 2019, the
health center opened offices in Danville offering medical and dental services.

Since then, the health center has expanded its services to include mental health
counseling at all locations with added staff in medical, dental and counseling to
accommodate the growing demand for services. A year ago, Moore Family Practice and
the Walk-In Clinic became part of the Health Center. In addition to an increase in
services and locations, the number of patients served has nearly quadrupled with over
9,000 patients served this year.

“Ideally, we need a facility where all sites in the Mount Vernon area can be centrally
located,” said Green. “That includes services and staff from the Upper Gilchrist Rd.
location, the Women Infant & Children (WIC) division located on Coshocton Avenue, and
Moore Family Practice.” Combining all of the services and staff under one roof is more
cost efficient, enhances availability of resources, and promotes access for all.”

Plans for the new facility will not affect the health center services in Danville.

“It’s also important to include public health services within the new facility since KPH
works hand-in-hand with the Health Center to address health inequities,” explained
Green. Health center patients benefit from public health programs like tobacco cessation,
Children with Medical Handicaps (CMH) program, infectious disease investigation, adult
and child immunizations, Maternal Child and Health (MCH), senior wellness resources,
access to birth and death records and environmental health education. “There’s no
reason to travel to another location to access these services when visiting the Health
Center,” added Green.

After 21 years at the Upper Gilchrist location, the building has served its purpose, said
Green. “But with the expansion of services and programming, we are definitely out of
room with multiple staff in every space available. To be financially efficient and
productive to meet the needs of the community, we need to move everyone together, in
a new centralized location.”

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