By: NICOLAS FIERRO
Salina Post
Saline County Commissioners on Tuesday’s public meeting approved the project of the Health Department location to move into the current and soon to be, former building of the Salina Family Healthcare Center (SFHC).
The building on 651 E. Prescott Ave. (current SFHC location) will improve the working experience of the Saline County Health Department as soon as practical, according to Saline County.
Read more: Salina Family Healthcare Center celebrates groundbreaking of brand new $60 million facility
A committee was formed to review nine proposals from tenants for the project that consisted of:
Matt Stiles, County Administrator, Jason Tiller, Health Department Director, Candice Sauers Health Department Deputy Director, Haylee LeFort, Clinic Receptionist and Linn Exline, Community Member at large.
The committee chose Tessere, as they felt the tenant "paid attention and listened to the stakeholders during the walkthroughs and interviews, including current challenges and future directions of the whole Prescott facility, not just the health department areas."
A statement from the Saline County Commission packet said “Tessere and their team really demonstrated that they understood the assignment and will be a valuable team player throughout this process, not only to the Health Department staff, but to County Administration and County Commissioners as well.”
The total project cost is $94,710.
The fees will be paid by the Health Department Capital Improvement Fund, which has a current balance of $646,411.
Tessere is an architectural, engineering and design firm company headquartered in Wichita. It was founded in 1919 and is licensed to practice architecture in 48 states.
There are no public records that Tessere has conducted or completed a project in Saline/Saline County.
Tiller reaffirmed to Commissioners the committee felt that Tessere “listened to us, understood our current challenges, what we need to accomplish to not only satisfy our needs, but also thinking about the future. Overwhelmingly, the committee felt this was the company that would help us accomplish that.”
Construction for Salina Family Healthcare Center's newest building is currently ongoing and is expected to be completed in the Fall of 2027.