TROY – The Lincoln County Health Department is putting its space to good use.

Later this month, the organization will unveil some upgrades to better serve patients and the growing population throughout the county.

The renovation project involved taking already existing space and repurposing it. The end result will feature four education and disease mitigation rooms, an education prep storage room, and an accessibility restroom.

Prior to the upgrade, there were only two rooms for clients use. According to Sarah Valenza, Lincoln County Health Department public information specialist, the upgrades “will enhance the privacy of our clinic and allow us to see more patients throughout the day to stay ahead of disease transmission.”

“This renovation began with a need to serve more clients during the COVID pandemic, to get ahead of transmission and help mitigate the spread of the virus,” she said. “We had reached our maximum patient capacity per day and saw the need to increase our services. This renovation will double our education/mitigation services and patient throughput. This will help reduce wait times and increase appointment availability for our nursing staff to help more members of the community.”

In addition to serving more patients, the remodel will allow more storage space on site with the new prep room which in turn will help serve prevention activities.

To pay for the project, the county health department received a contract from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of which $200,000 went towards the upgrades, per Valenza.

The renovation is located in the nursing clinic area. “While the lobby remains unchanged, visitors will notice slight changes upon walking into the building,” Valenza said. “For example, our check-in kiosk was moved and the front window is slightly different. This space only gained approximately 400 square feet of space. We were able to incorporate space from a previously existing office/ classroom and previously existing hallway to create more space.”

The anticipated completion date for the renovation project is the middle of the month.

To keep up to date on the exact opening, check the health department’s Facebook page.