Whiteside County Health Department plans expansion, adding optometry services

ROCK FALLS – The Whiteside County Health Department is getting slightly more than half of its usual annual federal funding; the rest is awaiting passage of the 2024 federal budget.

Despite the shortfall, the department is moving ahead with plans to expand the building at 1300 W. Second St., and add to the healthcare services offered, with money obtained from federal grants, said Cheryl Lee, department CEO.

The Department of Health and Human Services will provide the WCHD’s federally funded clinic $696,899, U.S. Democratic Rep. Eric Sorenson’s office announced Thursday.

The total funding should be around $1.2 million, based on last year, Lee said.

The clinic primarily serves the county’s low-income population; fees are calculated based on income, and people are treated regardless of their ability to pay.

Thanks to a $1 million grant, groundbreaking is planned in the spring for a new building, west of the Dental Clinic, that will house four suites for optometry services. Those services are being added to the slate of physical, mental and dental health services now offered.

Clinical services also are being expanded, she said.

Oral surgery was added last year, as was a changing table for adult patients.

In addition, plans call for remodeling the front of the building, to create one main entrance through which patients will be directed to their treatment areas, which will enhance security, and to add a canopy that will protect patients who are being picked up and dropped off from inclement weather, Lee said.

Money from the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, will fund that work.

Parking also is being evaluated to be expanded and made safer, she said.

The clinic has seen a steady increase in patients in recent years. In 2022, it served 11,000 people.

The expansion and addition of services is all part of an effort to assess and meet the changing medical needs of Whiteside County, which is dealing with, among other issues, an aging population, an increase in chronic diseases in younger people and a shortage of people who can treat them, Lee said.

“I think what we’re seeing is that it’s not just not enough providers, as a nation we’re unhealthier,” she said. “As the population changes and the need changes, we have to be mindful of our community.

”It’s a whole new world post-COVID.”