GraceMed to seek new funding for south-side clinic

GraceMed, a nonprofit health care clinic affiliated with the Methodist Church, found out Friday it did not receive a $1 million grant needed to construct its south Wichita clinic, said Dave Sanford, GraceMed CEO.

Plans called for a freestanding 26,000-square-foot facility on the Richard A. DeVore South YMCA campus, 3405 S. Meridian.

GraceMed estimates the clinic could serve 17,474 new patients with a total of 49,000 visits annually.

“As a faith-based organization, we have confidence that other options, other opportunities, will come along and this project will eventually take shape,” Sanford said.

GraceMed had applied for a grant from the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation, a Tulsa-based nonprofit to aid Christian religious organizations, including hospitals. Sanford said GraceMed applied for a $1 million challenge grant, meaning GraceMed would have had to raise an additional $1 million from the community to access the grant.

“We were kind of amped up thinking we had a good visit with the folks down in Tulsa during our visit, but that’s not the way it worked out,” Sanford said.

The Mabee Foundation could not be reached.

Sanford said the GraceMed board will meet this coming week, where he expects to discuss new funding avenues with the campaign committee.

The YMCA clinic is part of a larger $12 million project GraceMed started three years ago in an effort to expand health care access to Wichita’s underserved south-side population.

The project is called Project Oasis and, in addition to the YMCA clinic, includes three school-based clinics: West High School, Jardine Middle School and Oaklawn Elementary School.

The clinics at Jardine and Oaklawn are now open and West will open in early to mid-August.

Sanford said thus far, GraceMed has raised $9 million toward the total $12 million for the project. The YMCA clinic is estimated to cost a little over $6 million.

Sanford said he originally anticipated to break ground on the YMCA campus in August and said construction would take about 11 months once started.

“Even though we’re disappointed, our vision for putting a clinic in the south part of Wichita is still alive and we’re looking forward to seeking some other opportunities to build that clinic and begin serving people that live there,” he said.

This story was originally published July 18, 2015 at 6:56 AM with the headline "GraceMed to seek new funding for south-side clinic."