The North Ottawa Community Health System (NOCHS) is in the process of transforming a former strip shopping mall it owns in Grand Haven into a haven of healthcare services.
The mall (Taylor Avenue and Beacon Boulevard/US-31) has some 19,000 square feet of vacant space which will soon be home to four of NOCHS' programs: Home Care Equipment, Home Care Nursing, Community Education, and Hospice Nursing. These programs will move from three different locations across the community in April.
Two existing healthcare offices act as bookends to the vacant spaces and will provide opportunities for healthcare partnerships: NOCHS' Urgent Care Center and Four Pointes, formerly the North Ottawa Area Council on Aging.
Home Care Equipment will feature a 2,000-square-foot showroom of medical equipment, including wheelchairs, hospital beds, lift chairs, and more.
"The showroom will be very hands-on," says Dan Holwerda, COO of Extended Care Services for NOCHS. "If you have a sleep disorder and need to try a CPAP mask, you can. You can also go to a room and lay down on one of our beds to see how the mask works for you."
The Community Education space includes a classroom where NOCHS will hold information sessions on healthcare.
Relocating Community Education and Home Care Equipment from the NOCHS hospital building will free up space needed for NOCHS to expand its primary care offices.
"When we think about healthcare, we think we have to go to a physician's office or to the hospital," Holwerda says. "We're trying to establish in the community's mind that it's easy to get services or to shop for equipment. We want people to feel comfortable driving there and walking in as if they're walking into the mall. They don't have to go the hospital; they have easy access and easy parking right outside the door."
Source: Dan Holwerda, North Ottawa Community Health System
Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.