Grundy County breaks ground on new Health Department building

The groundbreaking ceremony for the new Grundy County Health Department in Coalmont.

COALMONT, Tenn. (WDEF)- Access to medical care is critical to any community’s success.

However, for some of our more rural areas, citizens could be miles away from the nearest medical care.

Grundy County is an example of rural area that has no hospital.

However, the future of health care in Grundy County is taking a big step as a groundbreaking ceremony was held on Friday for a brand new health department building.

It will be located in Coalmont near Grundy County High School,  and will replace the existing building in the county seat of Altamont.

Officials say it has stood since the 1960s, and has seen better days.

The regional director for the Tennessee Department of Health, Glenn Czarnecki, said, “We’ve been able to over the years expand several times. Have certainly utilized that facility to its fullest.”

Moving the health department from Altamont to Coalmont officials say is important, as Coalmont is a central location in a place where transportation can be a challenge.

This challenge has been felt by residents for decades, as described by Grundy County mayor Michael Brady.

“My father was 60 years old before he went to the doctor for the first simply because there was no local services available, so at least with this facility there will be that opportunity,” he said.

The new facility will have significant upgrades in the department’s mission to provide primary care to the uninsured.

“This new facility is going to expand especially the dental laboratory, it will expand from one to three chairs, so we will have a lot more access for folks. We’ll have more clinic space for primary care. We’ll have more room for partnerships such as the one we have now with Volunteer Mental Health,” said Czarnecki.

They hope this new building will help improve some of the poor health statistics officials aim to improve.

“There’s a lot of behavioral health issues that lend itself to some of those rankings, so in addition to the services we provide in the four walls that we also provide health services out in the community,” said Czarnecki.

Residents say that this is another step in the right direction as they say big things are happening in a small county.

Mayor Brady said, “The flow will be a lot better. Capacity will be a lot better. Parking will be a lot better. It’s just a total upgrade from the facility we have now.”

Mayor Brady also said he hopes the new facility could bring some T-CAT and other educational opportunities to the nearby high school.

The construction of the building is expected to take between 9 to 12 months, and officials hope it will be ready this time next year.