Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
PIERCETON - While no plans are final for the two medical clinics proposed at Pierceton, residents will likely be able to see a doctor at one facility as early as next month and another may be open by June.
Officials at Kosciusko Community Hospital are still working out details on the building they are hoping to procure in town. The hospital is purchasing the old Mill Inn Fabrics building on Main Street and early predictions are that the facility will be opened as soon as construction on the interior is complete. KCH vice president Jim Tobalski is forecasting the job to take about 30 days after the real estate purchase is finalized.
Once open, the clinic - which will be affiliated with KCH - will provide a general practice served by physicians and nurse practitioners.
Initially, the office will be open five days per week, with walk-in patients accepted.
Pierceton is also the site of a medical facility planned by Whitley Memorial Hospital, Columbia City.
WMH officials met Wednesday with Pierceton officials to discuss their plans for a physician office building on property already purchased along U.S. 30 near the industrial park.
Doctors affiliated with WMH have served the Pierceton community for about 45 years, according the WMH president John Hatcher. Dr. Richard Potts, who manned the office there (located two doors down from the site KCH is looking at) for about 11 years, recently departed, and visiting physicians have been filling in so residents would not be left without a doctor in town.
"With the doctor leaving the community, we felt it appropriate to attract another," Hatcher said. "One way to do that is to offer a modern facility." He added: "Whitley Memorial Hospital has a long-standing commitment to the community ... we are diligently seeking a new physician."
Officials are investigating the type of structure that would best suit their needs. Hatcher said if everything moves smoothly, the clinic could be up and running by June. The facility will offer a full-time family practice staffed by one or more physicians affiliated with WMH.
