After months of anticipation, Mount Gilead’s latest asset opened its doors and phone lines for new business on Monday, Aug. 1.
The Morrow Family Health Center held its ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, July 28, and is now accepting appointments for patients of all ages.
According to Community Engagement Coordinator Angie Reiff, the center is a primary health care provider for all ages. It is not an urgent care center, and Lorelei Heineman, Vice President of Patient Care Services for Morrow County Hospital, points out that urgent care will still be handled at the hospital as usual. She also stated that the Morrow Family Health Center and the hospital will work together to serve the health needs of the community. Also in attendance at the ribbon cutting was Mayor Mike Porter who states that the center is a needed facility.
Donna Carver, Vice President of the Morrow County Historical Society and Chairman of the Office of Morrow County Economic Development, makes note of how coincidental it is that the building at 9 West High Street has been reutilized for medical treatment. It was built by Dr. Nathan Tucker and was originally his medical offices and headquarters of the world-renown Hay Fever and Asthma Laboratory he started in 1889. After Dr. Tucker’s retirement, the lab and office building continued operations under the guidance of his nephew and great-nephew until the 1960s when it was purchased by Snyder Funeral Homes for which it was most recently known. The building still bears Tucker’s name above the High Street entrance. Carver points out that several of Dr. Tucker’s medical equipment and medication apparatus and dispensers are temporarily on loan and displayed at the recently opened Morrow County History Center, formerly the First Knox National Bank on High Street.
The Morrow Family Health Center is the sister organization to Marion’s Center Street Community Health Center and is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. According to CEO Cliff Edwards, the Mount Gilead facility is a federally qualified health center accepting uninsured individuals as well as those with private insurance and Medicaid and Medicare patients. He added that a dental facility will be available in the near future.
