The Point Washington Medical Clinic (PWMC) is pleased to announce the official Ribbon Cutting and Reception of its new stand alone 4,750 sq. ft. facility located at 1321 N. County Hwy 395 in Santa Rosa Beach. The press and public were invited to attend the event with a ribbon cutting on Thursday, January 25, 2024. Following the ribbon cutting there was a reception with live music and tours of the building.
Founded by Drs. Hillary Glenn, DNP, APRN and Patsy Vargo, MD, Point Washington Medical Clinic provides free medical care to those who need it thanks to their dedicated team of volunteers, from doctors and nurses to various community members who assist with health education, translation, and administrative tasks.
Their new facility, beautifully situated on the Point Washington United Methodist Church campus in Point Washington, was designed by architect Zack Quinn with interior design by Suzanne Rester Watson. Woodruff Construction handled the construction and Bradford Davis Landscape Architect the environs.
Co-Founder and Executive Director Dr. Hillary Glenn, DNP shares, “This building is by the community, for the community. We wouldn’t be here without the many contributions of our generous supporters, and we’re incredibly excited to expand our services and hours to serve our neighbors even more. Designed with the patient in mind, the building’s intentional details are all planned to ensure privacy and provide a calming comfortable environment, as well as being organized so the volunteers and team can easily access the tools they need.” Dr. Glenn continues, “Unique attributes of the facility include a children’s educational play area, a state-of-the-art classroom with a teaching kitchen, and a meditation prayer garden. To support the calming environment, we leaned into the natural landscape. This is seen with the oversized windows in the lobby looking out over the beautiful native forest, the dental operatories line up with large windows so patients will be looking out at trees while being treated and our partnership with the CAA and their Arts in Public Spaces program will enhance the interior beauty by bringing in works from local artists of our local environment inside.”
The new clinic will provide more space for volunteers who serve the clinic in various administrative, clinical and hospitality roles. It will also include six exam rooms including a pediatric exam room, an increase from two in the current pop-up clinic. This means the team will be able to serve 850+ patients a month in the future, an increase of 300%. The clinic will expand its preventive and primary care services with the addition of dentistry, mental health services and expanded onsite lab testing. Wellness, nutrition and educational classes will now be possible because of the new teaching kitchen and meeting space. This will enable the PWMC to further its mission of building a stronger and healthier community by providing high-quality primary health care regardless of the patient’s means or access.
The PWMC staff, Board of Directors and volunteer team are all excited for what the new facility means for the growing roster of patients as well as the greater Northwest Florida region. For the past six years, operating only two days a week, they have provided over $3.5 million in healthcare services on-site and have had over 15,000 patient visits.
Once the volunteer-driven clinic can expand their service hours, they expect to be able to see close to 10,000 patients annually providing over 1 million dollars in healthcare services per year.
A fundraising campaign continues to support construction. Those interested in volunteering or contributing to the building campaign can visit thepwmc.org/donate to learn more and make a donation.
