Plans for $65M Waco Family Medicine headquarters are on track, funding continues

said Dr. Mike Hardin, president of the Waco Family Medicine Institute. “We are within budget, which is also good news. We are aiming for completion around June 2024.”

The medical nonprofit broke ground on its multi-story headquarters building in October after raising $30 million. Funding was obtained from private and public sources, including his $5 million in federal pandemic funds through local governments. Five months later, the fundraising tally now stands at $30.7 million, but Hardin hopes the visual reminder of the construction will spur more donations.

“When you start to break ground, people realize that this is a real project, not a theoretical project, and it creates excitement,” he said. “One of the most positive things about it is seeing our leading fundraiser and community his partners so excited about the mission and the project and what it means. That’s it.”

Hardin said vertical construction is expected to begin in May. For now, cranes are in place to help move the beams and piers that support the foundation, which is likely to be poured by the end of this month.

Hardin has spent more than a decade planning the capital needs of Waco Family Medicine, a federally accredited health center serving more than 60,000 patients at 15 locations in McLennan County. The original goal was to refurbish his existing Colcord facility to meet the needs of Waco Family Medicine’s family physician training program.

Hardin said officials began looking for a new building after realizing that renovations alone would not be enough to meet the nonprofit’s needs. The new building will house not only existing clinical services, but also services focused on “social determinants of health,” including services for women, infants and children, medical legal services, behavioral health, wellness programs and an educational kitchen. are also accommodated.

Dental services will be integrated into the clinic, so doctors will be able to call dentists to discuss their patients’ needs, Hardin said.

Hardin said the old building will be demolished to make way for employee parking soon after next summer’s move.

He said the project has not suffered from supply chain delays that have plagued many projects across the country over the past few years. He said he had pre-ordered the materials.

Hardin said officials want to raise as much money as possible for as long as construction lasts, but regardless of funding, the project is expected to be completed next summer.

A consortium of local banks has secured loans of up to $25 million to cover remaining needs after the funding, nonprofit officials said. Central National Bank, First National Bank of Central Texas, American Bank and Community Bank and Trust banks lock in favorable interest rates before interest rates begin to rise significantly last year I agreed.