Work should get under way by early April on an impressive new three-story Winn Community Health Center on West Lafayette Street according to CEO Deano Thornton during a presentation February 8 at the Louisiana Political Museum. It is expected to take 16 months to complete the work.
The 52,000 square foot facility will house its patient services on the first two floors. The third floor will be administration and support for Winn and the other five parishes the health center has grown to serve since 2009. The project cost including construction, furnishings and equipment will be around $28 million.
Thornton explained that there is a huge amount of due diligence involved in a project this large, unlike “going to the bank and borrowing money from one source.” Financial paperwork is anticipated to close March 21 with a ceremonial groundbreaking and project startup in early April. TBS Studio is the Shreveport/Bossier architect while Ratcliff Construction of Alexandria is the general contractor.
It was a very competitive bid process on the project, the CEO said, with contractors from Dallas and Little Rock as well as others in Louisiana hoping to win the contract. Due to proximity, Ratcliff in Alexandria will be able to access local subcontractors.
The Health Center has acquired most of the property on the north side of West Lafayette Street between the hospital and the primary school for this construction. The new building itself will be adjacent to the ATM at Sabine State Bank and parking will extend westward to the center’s present administration building. Design unique to Winnfield construction will be inclusion of two elevators and two escalators.
Besides the Winn Community Health Center here in Winnfield, this office operates centers in Grant, Bienville, Lincoln, Rapides and Avoyelles parishes. It also has school-based services in Winn and Rapides parishes, serving some 40 schools. In 2023, they saw 39,000 different patients for 135,000 visits. The center’s network has 300 employees and when its new building is complete, 125 employees will be here daily.
Services include primary care medicine, pediatrics, behavioral health, dental, podiatry, pharmacy and at some centers, gastro-intestinal services. Once the larger building is completed, the additional space will allow for expanded services, Thornton said.
“They like to call this an investment in a rural, under-served, heavily-minority area, which we are,” said Thornton. “I’m thankful to be able to make this kind of investment in our community. It enables us to meet our mission in providing quality healthcare services here for the next 50 years.”
