MercyMed launches expansion plan of patient services near main location in Columbus

MercyMed of Columbus is growing to offer more services and expand existing services as part of the clinic’s mission to treat patients whether they have insurance or not.

The clinic is renovating an 8,000 square foot property, formerly a Piggly Wiggly, on 2nd Ave. adjacent to MercyMed’s Wellness Center, chief development officer Billy Holbrook told the Ledger-Enquirer. It is expected to take about nine months to a year to be complete,

This expansion comes after MercyMed surveyed its patients to learn what needs the clinic wasn’t meeting.

“Our patients have a lot of barriers to care,” Holbrook said. “And so we want to be mindful of those and continually listen to who we are serving and what they are saying.”

Benefits of the additional space

One of the top services respondents asked for was a pharmacy, he said. In response, an on-site pharmacy will be housed in the additional space. MercyMed has already hired a full-time pharmacist and pharmacy tech to help them start up the pharmacy.

“They’ve opened pharmacies before,” Holbrook said. “But we’re giving ourselves a long runway.”

The pharmacy has already begun to be rolled out in the existing building, but only for MercyMed patients. They plan to begin with filling prescriptions for uninsured patients, he said, before moving on to offer the service to patients with Medicaid or other insurance programs.

“We like to crawl, then walk, then run,” Holbrook said.

Eventually, Holbrook expects the pharmacy to one day fill prescriptions from any provider’s office.

Along with the pharmacy, the new space would allow MercyMed to double its counseling capacity , increase physical and speech therapy and expand wellness and nutrition education.

“What that’s going to do is vacate space in the clinic on the medical side,” Holbrook said. “So, we can have more exam room space for doctors and mid-level providers.”

MercyMed, which has about 7,000 patients, temporarily stopped accepting new patients a couple months ago because of a need for more providers. He hopes the clinic can encourage other physicians who are interested in the mission to come work there.

Currently, MercyMed has eight providers, and is in the process of interviewing nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

“We would love a new full-time doctor and a couple more nurse practitioners or PA’s,” Holbrook said.

Fundraising and improving health outcomes

To fund the expansion, MercyMed embarked on a fundraising effort, Holbrook said.

A little less than half of MercyMed’s budget comes through their patients, he said. It charges a sliding fee scale, bill and use insurance for those who have it. The rest of the clinic’s money comes in through donations .

Along with the main location on 2nd Avenue, MercyMed has clinics at Mission Columbus and The Banks at Mill Village .

Along with expanded space next to the Wellness Center, the MercyMed Farm has grown in the past couple of years. MercyMed is a tenant in the lot near the Food Mill, Holbrook said, and they were given permission to use more of the land.

As a result, their production at the farm increased, he said, and they grew around 14,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables in 2023.

MercyMed partners with the Food Mill to offer medically tailored meals and fruit and vegetable prescriptions to patients. On Fridays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., they operate a farm stand so others can come get fresh food at discounted prices.

“”It’s an increase of our footprint by being another way of helping to improve health outcomes for the whole community,” Holbrook said.