McKenzie Valley Wellness Plan to Rebuild the McKenzie River Clinic

Val Rapp, president of board, McKenzie Valley Wellness has announced that they are going to rebuild the Clinic on the original site in Blue River and made the statement below:

After considering other options, our original site is the best option. We are going to rebuild it as a 21st-century rural health clinic and wellness building that offers the primary care, telehealth, and expanded services that we all want in the McKenzie Valley. Our plan is to have a facility that can meet the community’s needs for the next 30 to 50 years.

That goal means we’re going to need a bigger building. The old clinic was about 1,680 square feet. Our new building will be in the range of 4,000 to 4,500 square feet. It will likely be a two-story building, in order to fit on our 0.37-acre lot.

We are counting on Blue River infrastructure to be there for the new building, and we are very encouraged by the work already being done to rebuild and improve infrastructure such as the town water system.

MVW’s partnership with Orchid Health will continue also. Previously, our small nonprofit transferred the medical practice to Orchid Health, a small company laser-focused on providing excellent health care in rural Oregon. As you know, Orchid Health has shown its commitment to our community since the fire, renting the Quilt Shop and a mobile health clinic to continue offering health care despite the building’s loss. Orchid Health is enthusiastic about a larger building where they can offer expanded services in the future.

MVW continues to be a nonprofit organization, as we have been for over 40 years. We own the land and we will raise the funds to rebuild the Clinic. In the past year, through grants and partnerships, we have funded the start of behavioral health and community health worker programs at the Clinic—both of which Orchid has turned into full-time programs. We have also purchased telehealth tablets to enable people to have telehealth appointments during the pandemic and post-fire, and we assisted with start-up expenses for the mobile health clinic. In the new building, MVW will have its own separate office and space separate from the medical space, which Orchid will rent from us.

I highly value our relationships with other community organizations, especially the support and new connections that we’ve built since the fire. Our entire board wants to continue relationships and partnerships with other organizations in the community. You are all doing tremendous work.