Missouri health care nonprofits hope to innovate health care in the state with new facility.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Two Missouri health nonprofit organizations broke on Tuesday for a new building in Jefferson City.
The Missouri Primary Care Association in partnership with the Missouri Behavioral Health Council hosted a groundbreaking event in Jefferson City for its new Roy Blunt Center of Healthcare Integration & Innovation building.
According to a release from MBHC, the 50,000-square-foot building will act as a nonclinical facility that will house both organizations along with various training centers and free offices for state department agencies.
"This center really will be innovative, will be the first of its kind in the country," MPCA CEO Joe Pierle said. "Bringing together two associations who are like minded, serving, underserved populations across the state of Missouri."
The building will focus on training and educating people, conducting research, and strengthening the community and network of health care providers, according to the MBHC. This includes working with state agencies such as the Department of Social Services, the Department of Corrections and the Department of Public Safety.
According to the MPCA, in 2022 the MPCA and MBHC combined were able to train 6,723 members who went on to help more than 800,000 patients, with a little more than half of the patients being located in lower-income areas.
The center will also feature an auditorium and open-office plan collaboration workspace.
The MPCA states that both them and the MBHC leverage millions of dollars every year for low-income medical support and mental-health benefits. It hopes the collaborative setting of the building, resources will be more efficiently used.
"We're really excited about the collaborative space within the building," Pierle said. "It's going to bring our different teams together to collaborate and share ideas and best practices on how we can improve access to health care across the state."
The building is named after former Sen. Roy Blunt. He was one of the leading senators in the Excellence in Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Act signed into law in 2014.
"Almost a million people now use either the federally qualified health center or the certified community behavioral health centers in our state," Blunt said. "We've been real leaders in these areas and particularly leaders in those two groups working together."
“MBHC and MPCA are known as national leaders among their peers. By building and co-locating, both teams will enhance the support they provide around research, training, and education, service delivery, and workforce development,” the release said.
The facility will be located at 3450 W Edgewood Drive in Jefferson City. According to Pierle, construction is set to begin mid-September and will be completed next fall.
