A ribbon cutting was held at a new medical center in the Shafer Building. Shown in the center with the scissors are Brad Rogers, chief operating officer of Woodlawn Hospital, and Jennifer Mackey, practice manager, preparing to cut the ribbon. Photo by Joe Siciliano.

By Joe Siciliano
InkFreeNews

ROCHESTER — The Shafer Building extension at Woodlawn Health opened with a grand celebration Thursday, Aug. 17. There are too many people to list that made this opening possible. The atmosphere was jubilant and everyone attending had great, big smiles to prove it.

The fun, the facility and the charcuterie board feeding the masses, took center stage at this celebration.

Laughter could be heard around every corner of the new building, as everyone involved enjoyed the event.
Khrista Boster, chief marketing officer, led the tour of the new facility with charm and knowledge of the brand-new medical center.

“Our new facility is a family practice. We have Dr. Brubaker, Dr. O’Brian, Dr. Witt and Phyllis Ingham, FNP-C. Witt was recruited from Plymouth,” she said.

When asked why the clinic moved to the Shafer Building, Boster explained, “We had a building that was located downtown that we were renting. It wasn’t efficient for us, so we built this office. It makes resources so much easier to attain. It’s also good for the community and the patients.”

Meet Melannie Fogart, receiptionist.

If you have an urgent need, you will not have to go five minutes down the road.

“That might sound like a short distance, but when it’s an emergency, it’s an emergency,” Boster said.
Boster said there is 12 exam rooms.

“We have a centralized nurse’s station, which is huge for us, because before, the nurses were all over the board,” Boster said.

The new facility boasts a staff of 20-plus non-physicians to run the facility and serve the community. The new system will be able to provide appointments to over 100 patients per day.

When, Brad Rogers, chief operating officer of Woodlawn Hospital, was asked if the new venture was funded by donations, he replied, “This was all slow steady savings by Woodlawn Hospital over the last five years.”

The name of the new facility is Woodlawn Health. Boster said, “The reason why is, we have clinics in Argos and Akron, and we are more than just a hospital. We do a lot of things out-patient.”

Alison Heyde, board president, was asked if she was excited about the new endeavor, she said, “Oh my gosh; we are so excited to be able to offer this to the community and the surrounding counties,” Heyde explained. “It’s a beautiful building and it brings our campuses together. Other counties can take care together at the Woodlawn campus.”

The “welcoming committee” consisted of Kathy Horton, chief human resources officer, and Paula McKinney, chief nursing officer.

“They selected us for the role because we were the prettiest girls in the office,” Horton said with a wink.

The open house festivities gave way to the ribbon-cutting ceremony with Rogers and Jennifer Mackey, practice manager, doing the honors.

Heather Frain and Amy Calvert are shown at the nurse’s station.