By Carole Robinson, staff writer
crobinson@williamsonherald.com
As young patients and their parents walked into Mercy Children’s Clinic on Tuesday, the first day in a new location, the immediate comment is, “This is awesome.”
Nobody notices the smell of paint, the minor construction still going on and unpacked boxes on the floor. Instead, they are struck by the spacious, light-filled, colorful and clean, new facility located in Williamson Square shopping center on Highway 96 East behind Garcia’s restaurant.
“It is truly a gift from God,” said David Winningham, Mercy’s executive director.
The more than 11,000 square feet of space is almost triple the 4,000 square feet the clinic operated within until Tuesday on Ninth Avenue South in downtown Franklin. With the flu and other childhood maladies this time of year, coupled with being closed for a couple days to move, the clinic was extraordinarily busy, but the flow of patients into the 18 fully equipped exam rooms and the seven therapy rooms, all went smoothly.
“The only way you guys could make this a better place for kids is to put TVs in every room,” said an excited 5-year old patient.
A mother exclaimed excitedly as she checked in, “This is awesome! It’s so much better – and we’re safe. I always worried.”
At the former location, Tiffany Goad had to battle negotiating her young daughter’s wheelchair through an unpaved parking lot.
“I love it here,” she said. “It’s beautiful and access is much easier. At the other clinic I was always running [the wheelchair] into walls.”
So much thought, prayer and community generosity has gone into the development of the new facility, which means “MCC now has the capacity to do what we want to do,” said Winningham. “We expanded the mental health piece and now we have the elbow room to do it well. Now there are no barriers. The story is a wonderful story of a community coming together – it’s such a team effort.”
The mission of Mercy is health care for all children.
“We don’t turn anyone away, uninsured or insured,” said Jessica Perry, MCC community relations specialist.
“Our hope with this facility is that we have grown into a place where we can continue to meet their needs – no doubt we will continue to see an increase in our patients.”
Seeing the need in 1999 to help children in Williamson County who didn’t have health care insurance access the services they needed in a caring, Christ-centered environment, church, business and community leaders banned together, under the guidance of a dedicated pediatric physician to open Mercy Children’s Clinic. The clinic opened on Ninth Avenue near the neighborhoods it was originally intent on serving in a building that was once the first African American funeral home in Franklin and an old carpet factory.
Through the generosity of the community, “We made it work,” said Perry.
The Clinic provided “healthcare services to all children and support to their families.” Although about two thirds of the patients are uninsured or underinsured, those who do have insurance are also welcome at the clinic.
It wasn’t long before the patient service area expanded to now include more than 30 counties in Middle Tennessee, Southern Kentucky and Northern Alabama. In ten years, MCC ‘s patient load reach 10,000.
In 2006 Mercy Family Services opened to provide mental health and social services making Mercy even more comprehensive. In 2008, the clinic expanded services to include the Chronic Care Medical Home to ensure the proper management of patient care plans and allowing the clinic to care for patients holistically, but with each expansion, space was becoming a premium.
Add in the growth of the past 18 months – 100 new patients a month were now calling MCC their healthcare home; more than double the 40 average monthly patient growth for the previous eight and a half years.
“That’s incredible growth,” Perry said.
Closets and storage areas were transformed to exam rooms to accommodate the needs, but eventually there were no more areas to transform and decisions had to be made.
The staff retains the close, friendly, family-like atmosphere that continues to draw people from all walks of life to the pediatric center that recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.
Carole Robinson can be contacted at crobinson@williamsonherald.com
Posted on: 11/19/2009
