| The paperwork has been filed and now Donna Dyer and the East Central Oklahoma Family Health Center (ECOFHC) is waiting to see if a $1 million grant will be approved. She said the money would build a 5,600 square foot medical facility at the Shurden-Leist industrial park in Henryetta. |  ECOFHC office in Wetumka. |
| The grant application was made to the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA). HRSA is an agency through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dyer said the facility would be similar to the facility in Wetumka. When completed, it would provide medical, dental and a planned behavioral health services. Fees are based on income and family size. ECOFHC would consolidate two offices now in operation in Henryetta. Currently 12 people are employed and that staffing is projected to grow to 18 to 20 people. The site choice has received approval from the Environmental Protection Agency and Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality. Once home to the Eagle Pitcher Smelter, the Shurden-Leist site has some 28 acres of usable property that can be developed. The health center would take some 15.4 acres of that area. | |
| Earlier this month, the EPA finally gave city officials a Certificate of Completion. That certifies the site can be developed and specifically said a medical care facility could be built there. Letters of support for the new medical facility were given by the city, Henryetta Economic Development Authority, and chamber. |  Murray, Utah medical center built on EPA Superfund site. |
| There has been some opposition to the site selection by a few individuals in Henryetta. Several emails alleging the site is still polluted have been sent to several agencies in an effort to get the grant from being approved. Those claims have been refuted by both EPA and ODEQ. Contaminated material from smelter operations was buried in a northwest corner of the site. That pit was covered over with a thick clay cap then clean, uncontaminated soil was placed over it. The rest of the site has received nearly two feet of soil covering. Dyer, the ECOFHC CEO, said the proposed facility and parking lot would have a concrete and asphalt covering that would protect the soil subsurface. This would be one of the latest in a series of healthcare operations started on EPA Superfund sites around the country. Those include a medical facilities in Utah, Minnesota and Massachusetts. Download more information about healthcare facilities on Superfund sites here: {jd_file file==95} | |
