LA PINE, OR -- Construction of the La Pine Wellness Center is on pace, so is the fundraising goal of $5-million for the $16-million project. “We have about $2.8 million left to raise…. We are doing great. They've already poured concrete for our foundation walls and are installing utilities. The building is projected to be completed in January or February of next year,” the Health Center’s Courtney Ignazzitto says they currently serve about 6,000 primary-care patients, “Due to the new building, we will have space in our existing building to add four more providers and that equals around 4,600 additional patients. And with the growth we've been experiencing in La Pine, that is going to be just an amazing addition for the community.”

“We will have a dental clinic, an imaging center and expanded mental health services. So, people don't have to be a primary care patient of ours in order to access those services. There has been a gap of patients that have had to seek dental care in Bend or Redmond even though we have dental care available in La Pine due to insurance limitations. And we've never had imaging services in La Pine beyond X ray,” she says. The Wellness Center will be situated next to the La Pine Community Health Center.

Ignazzitto, also a city councilor tells KBND News the Wellness Center has received warm community support.

“We have several potential grant sources identified and we have a dedicated team from our community that is working on fundraising. So, we're hoping to chunk this off pretty, pretty quickly,” she says citing grant money coming from government and private sources, including a recent $500,000 grant from M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust.