La Plata County Public health will initiate a transition next week as many of the department’s front desk services – including vital records, environmental health and community health programs – move to a recently purchased building in Bodo Industrial Park.
The new location at 185 Suttle St. is just under a mile from the current offices at 281 Sawyer Drive and new offices will open Tuesday.
Harm reduction, health insurance literacy and WIC programs will be housed in the new building, which was formerly owned by Axis Health System. La Plata County paid $4.5 million for the building in May.
In March, two other key public health services, the clinic and the water lab, will also make a move. The clinic will move into the Durango Integrated Healthcare facility owned by Axis; the water lab will move to 10 Burnett Court, on the first floor of the county’s Department of Human Services building. The new location will contain state-of-the art equipment and ventilation and will allow customers convenient drop-off, according to a news release.
Both the water lab and the clinic will remain at the Sawyer Drive location until the new facilities are ready.
“One of the biggest reasons that we opted to seek the location with Axis Health System (for the clinic) is for that more seamless referral system,” Public Health Director Tracy Anselmo said. “It is not unexpected that even making an extra phone call or driving across town can be a barrier for people to complete that referral into a primary care setting, which is always of our objective.”
She added that the clinic will eventually be open more than the current three days per week.
Some of the cost of the move will be offset by the sale of the Sawyer location. Ownership of the section of the building once occupied by San Juan Basin Public Health was never transferred to the county, but retained by the receiver in charge of the former health department’s assets at the request of county officials. In November, Durango School District 9-R announced it had purchased the space for $2.4 million.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation also rents half the Suttle building from the county for an annual rate of $238,000 and will continue to occupy the space through 2027.
More information can be found at lpcgov.org/departments/public_health.
rschafir@durangoherald.com