C-T Photo / Catherine Stortz Ripley

CAPTION: Brian Johnston (right), Hedrick Medical Center’s chief executive officer, welcomes the crowd during an open house at Hedrick Family Care in Chadwick Plaza. Tuesday’s event included tours of the facility and introductions of the clinic’s physicians. Hedrick Family Care is the former Chillicothe Medical Clinic which had been housed on the second floor of the doctors building adjacent to HMC. Johnston said the decision to move the clinic was made because of an increasing patient load and a desire to expand the clinic’s physician base.

Hedrick Medical Center opened its new Hedrick Family Care at 861 Fairway in Chadwick Plaza for public viewing during an open house Tuesday afternoon. The event included tours of the spacious facility as well as the introduction of the clinic’s physicians. Drs. Edna DeCastro, William Cox and Jack Lausterer, who had seen patients at the clinic’s former location, made the move. Special mention was given for Dr. Greg Miller, who will join the clinic in August 2009, and Darla Cope, a nurse practitioner who will start at the clinic in February 2009.

Brian Johnston, the hospital’s chief executive officer, welcomed those in attendance during the open house and thanked the staff and community for their support during the transition. “The new facility is a fantastic addition to the community,” Johnston said. “It provides adequate space for our patients to receive care in a private location. The new facility offers more space and convenience than our old location.”

Hedrick Family Care is the former Chillicothe Medical Clinic which had been housed on the second floor of the doctors building adjacent to HMC. An increasing patient load and a desire to expand the clinic's physician base made the move necessary, Johnston said. The former clinic had 2,500 square-feet, compared to a patient area now of 4,000 square-feet. The new building also provides the hospital with flexibility to recruit additional physicians.

The new facility opened in early October and had nine exam rooms and a lab draw station. Hedrick Family Care is a family care clinic and will continue to be owned and operated by Hedrick Medical Center. The clinic served around 16,000 patients in 2007. The facility offers patients the opportunity to make same-day appointments.