The Michigan City community now has access to more expansive and inclusive healthcare options as HealthLinc’s newest clinic is officially open for business. The facility, located at 200 Alfred St., opened its doors on March 4 ready to assist people with their medical needs and recently celebrated this milestone with a grand opening ceremony on April 2.
HealthLinc Michigan City offers a variety of health services -- including medical, dental, pediatrics, chiropractic, vision and podiatry services as well as a full-service, on-site pharmacy opening soon.
“It's incredibly exciting to have this new facility open – it's like dreams have come true inside of a building,” said HealthLinc CEO Melissa Mitchell. “It’s a great moment for us to see the building and know a lot of the things we've been planning for years have happened. It’s also exciting to watch our patients as they experience the new clinic. From the moment they come into the facility, they tell our staff how amazing the new clinic is – it makes it all worthwhile.”
Prior to the opening of the new clinic, HealthLinc had already established a strong presence in Michigan City. However, as the staff and services HealthLinc offered continued to grow, it was unable to accommodate these changes at its smaller location. This led to the decision that building a brand-new facility would be the best option to suit the many additions HealthLinc had already made and wanted to make in the future.
To bring this new facility to life, HealthLinc teamed up with Larson-Danielson Construction and Facet Architecture. The three have worked together on many projects in years past, and this made it an easy choice for HealthLinc to work with them again to continue to offer quality care for the people it serves.
“They know what we need and understand how we do business,” Mitchell said. “Having partners who understand our mission makes it so much easier for us to do what we do, which is take care of people.”
Larson-Danielson has additionally enjoyed partnering with HealthLinc and is proud to come together again to mark this milestone in serving the Michigan City area.
“This is an incredible investment by HealthLinc in Michigan City and the health of the community,” said Larson-Danielson Project Manager David Merkel. “HealthLinc has long been a partner with Larson-Danielson. We've been the chosen contractor by HealthLinc going back several years, so it's exciting to be part of their mission to bring health care to a community that needs it.”
With many different services making this clinic essentially a one-stop-shop for the community’s healthcare needs, the facility needed a specific design to be most effective. Therefore, creating as much space as possible for each of these services while creating a cohesive look with the many other HealthLinc facilities was important when establishing the overall design.
“We were able to do some fun things with it with the atrium space; the focus was to really let people know where to go immediately,” Robin Witte, Facet Architecture lead architect, said. “There are a lot of different spaces to go to – the pharmacy, the community rooms, the dental area and then the medical – so we needed to direct people to where they needed to go while also providing sidelines for security."
More space and services will also allow for more opportunities both for HealthLinc and the surrounding community, including the Michigan City Ivy Tech Community College campus which is within walking distance of the new location. With HealthLinc’s additional space and plethora of services, the two plan to partner to provide training programs for students as well as more job opportunities for the facility to continue its mission to provide for as many people as possible.
“I certainly think that it's a novel idea for them to partner with Ivy Tech the way they are,” Merkel said. “It both helps the students at Ivy Tech get practical experience and learn about the healthcare environment, and it’s certainly a much larger community of people to serve, whether they’re insured or not. That will benefit the residents of Michigan City.”
Building the new location has been in the works for a few years, so seeing the project finally complete is a great feeling for all parties.
“To attend the ribbon cutting at the grand opening and see the community using the space and all the staff enjoying the space is really fulfilling. It's a great feeling to see people enjoy it,” Witte said. “Being able to walk into a building that you designed is a pretty amazing thing, and it's great when you see your clients happy because you know the design's doing its job.”
HealthLinc is additionally excited to continue to grow alongside the Michigan City community.
“We are excited to be a part of a growing Michigan City community,” Mitchell said. “I know the mayor is working really hard to make improvements, and we're excited to be in this place at this time and to see what happens next.”
More information on HealthLinc Michigan City can be seen at its website here. For more information on Larson-Danielson Construction, visit its website here, and for more information on Facet Architecture, visit its website here.
