MADISON — After having been discussed for years, a renovation project has begun at the Madison Health Center.

Connie Coggins, HealthReach’s president and CEO, said the renovations are underway after three health care providers were added over the past two years.

“Our part-time psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner joined us a year and a half ago, and our two licensed clinical social workers only came in January,” Coggins said.

“The renovations won’t be increasing the footage of the building but just using the space in a different way.”

The Madison Area Health Center at 8 Main St. provides a variety of services, including women’s health, men’s health, pediatric services, counseling and substance-use treatment.

The first phase of the project will renovate 2,500 square feet of the current facility, expected to cost about $500,000. The funds for the project are coming from the HealthReach Community Health Centers’ capital fund.

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The health center, which opened in 1977, now sees 2,300 individual patients and has about 9,500 visits per year as of 2018. The building was last renovated in 1989, when an expansion was added to accommodate the growing practice.

The building now has space for three full-time nurse practitioners, two licensed clinical social workers, a part-time physician and a part-time psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner.

The renovations will use the existing space in news ways, including utilizing the room that used to hold patients’ records, according to Coggins.

All of those records have been switched to digital, creating space for providers and increased patient care.

Building materials are staged and ready for installation Tuesday at the Madison Health Center at 8 Main Street in Madison. The work is part of a two-phase interior and exterior renovation project.

“These renovations will create a better work flow and increase patient comfort,” Coggins said.

The first phase of the renovation will also include new windows and siding.

The second phase will be more “cosmetic,” according to Lindsay Moran, community outreach specialist for HealthReach Community Health Centers.

“Cosmetic updates entail touch-ups on both the interior and exterior of the building,” Moran said.

Phase two is set to begin next spring.


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