PARIS, Ill. — A two-story addition to the Paris Clinic should be completed this winter, providing additional space for family practice providers and behavioral health services, according to hospital officials.
Construction of the two-story, 32,000-square-foot addition began last October. It will attach to the existing clinic and expand to the west.
“With the addition of many new services and providers, we have outgrown our existing space. The new space will better serve our patients now and into the future,” Oliver Smith, Horizon Health president & CEO, said.
The close proximity of primary care providers to behavioral health services is key in the organization’s movement toward Integrated Behavioral Healthcare. The current clinic space will be renovated to better accommodate the practices of the specialty providers.
“We’ve been looking at this model for quite some time,” Samantha Volstorf, Horizon Health psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner, said. “We know behavioral health is key to a person’s overall health. The benefits of better managing the care of people with a behavioral health diagnosis are many, including longer life span, decreased cost of care, and improved compliance with healthcare treatment plans.”
The new design concept fosters a whole-person approach, treating an individual’s physical and mental well-being.
“We hope to eventually see less stigma associated with behavioral health, specialized therapists to address key diagnoses we see in our practices, and improved physical outcomes because of improved mental health care,” Volstorf added. “Our goal is to achieve very seamless care for these patients.”
Horizon Health has been working to improve access to behavioral health over the past few years. The addition of telepsychiatry services, psychiatric nurse practitioners, and development of the Life Center have all added to the availability of behavioral health in Paris and the surrounding communities.
“The addition of HRC and its Living Room program to our campus has been good,” Lacey Stults, Horizon Health clinic director, said. “Those services better address the needs of our patients who are in crisis. The services planned for the clinic expansion will be more outpatient based, such as office visits and therapy appointments.”
The expansion will be funded through existing capital and loans that were initiated for other projects, but not used.
“This has been a vision of our organization for a long time,” Smith said. “I’m thrilled to say it is finally coming together.”
