New community health center on track to open this fall in Wheaton

Construction of the DuPage County Health Department's $11 million community health center is on schedule and the facility is expected to open in mid-September in Wheaton, officials said Tuesday.

The one-story 33,000-square-foot facility, just east of the existing public health center at 111 N. County Farm Road, will feature office space for the health department and the DuPage County chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, along with meeting rooms for public health and wellness programs.

Executive Director Karen Ayala said the new community center will create an environment that is "really supportive of wellness recovery efforts," thanks to integrated services and new features.

The public-private partnership is a new concept for the department, public information officer David Hass said.

A new short-stay crisis unit will provide room for a dozen clients to stay overnight at the center, with the average stay likely lasting three to four days, officials said. It will provide an alternative for people with a behavioral health crisis who need a safe space to stabilize but don't require hospitalization.

A kitchen and multipurpose room in the community center will provide clients with opportunities for physical activity, job training, meal preparation and other ways to expand their ability to live independently, officials said.

Ayala said the health department is able to construct the new building without raising taxes because of its board's "real dedication to financial stewardship" over the past decade.

"We're on budget, which is really important to us," Ayala said. "Everything is going along smoothly. It was a rough winter, but they stayed pretty much on schedule."

Health department officials have said there will be enough money to pay for the $11 million project with reserves and the sale of two existing facilities in Lombard and Wheaton. The programs offered at both those facilities will be moved into the new building when it opens.

A new occupant already has been secured for the soon-to-be-vacated Wheaton facility, which is a transitional services mental health center at 422 N. Prospect St. Programs offered there will be temporarily moved, starting next week, to a building at 420 N. County Farm Road.

The other facility, located at 440 S. Finley Road in Lombard, is still for sale. Even if the property doesn't sell soon, officials said the department plans to move all services offered there to the new building in the fall.

Hass said a grand opening celebration will likely occur about a month after the new building opens when everything is working smoothly and everyone is settled in.