A $15 million medical facility coming to the Dutchtown neighborhood will help to expand health care access for one of the more densely populated portions of St. Louis.
Family Care Health Centers' new at the corner of Grand Boulevard and Chippewa Street will bring a variety of affordable services including primary care, behavioral health, nutrition services and pharmaceutical services.
The health care provider was looking to expand its offerings for families and individuals in the city who need these services but may not be able to easily access them, said Aramide Ayorinde, CEO of Family Care Health Centers.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 our mission; we want to be in underserved populations,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e want to be a safety net provider for those who need help and those who need medical services.鈥�
The new facility, which has broken ground and is slated to open in June 2026, adds to Family Care Health Centers' existing footprint of four locations, two of which are like the soon-to-be Dutchtown location and open to the general public regardless of a person鈥檚 insurance status or ability to pay, Ayorinde said.
鈥淲e really want to be an option for patients, and not just individuals, but their families,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is really about how we continue to improve the health care outcomes of St. Louis.鈥�
For Dutchtown resident Jarred Irby, the new facility is a major positive for the neighborhood because of Family Care Health Centers' outreach and focus on underserved populations including those who don鈥檛 speak English. Irby has personal experience with the health care provider, using it when he first moved to south St. Louis.
鈥淵ou quickly realize that in south city, there [aren鈥檛] a whole lot of health care options,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty hard to find a doctor without knowing someone who鈥檒l be like, 鈥榊es, we can get you in.鈥� Family Care Health Centers was one who eventually called back and said, 鈥榃e have some availability.鈥欌��
The site is at the intersection of two bus lines in the city, including the popular 70 line along Grand. This also has Irby excited because of how many people in the neighborhood rely on public transportation.
鈥淭hat is kind of like a crossroads of St. Louis,鈥� he said. 鈥淏etween Grand and Chippewa, Grand and Gravois, that鈥檚 a lot of traffic and people [that] go through that place.鈥�
Fellow Dutchtown resident Arica Davis-Clark agrees, adding that many people in the neighborhood who live below the poverty line rely on public transit.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 huge,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he toughest part when it comes to insurance and accessible health care, there is that risk that you end up at a facility that isn鈥檛 accessible by public transportation.鈥�
Davis-Clark added she鈥檚 encouraged by the message a new facility telegraphs to the community when resources for underserved communities are sometimes not as high quality.
鈥淭hat really makes a difference,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t shows the community and our neighbors that we deserve beautiful things and we deserve top-of-the-line health care.鈥�
The architecture firm Trivers is designing the new facility and is the same group that designed Family Care Health Center鈥檚 location on Holly Hills Avenue, said Ross Welch, a project manager and associate with Trivers.
鈥淎 key thread of our DNA is these community-engaged projects,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e really enjoy being involved with organizations that are community focused and mission driven.鈥�
This project was also attractive for the firm because of the challenge in building a facility that manages many different health care functions as an integrated center with many different patients at different times, Welch said.
鈥淭rying to figure out how all those departments come together and how we facilitate the handoffs they make with a patient in a single visit was one of the interesting challenges to how we laid out the building and how all the departments flow or intersect,鈥� he said.
Ayorinde said the past working relationship with Trivers made it easier to design a strong facility.
鈥淭hey understand our system, they understand our teams,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey understand the mission and the work that we鈥檙e doing. It makes that conversation pretty easy.鈥�
Closer to the opening of the new facility, Ayorinde expects to hire people from the surrounding neighborhood.
鈥淲e will be recruiting and certainly want to ensure that we have individuals from the community working at the health center,鈥� she said.
