The Community Health Association of Spokane (CHAS), a nonprofit organization that provides medical and dental care for low-income Spokane County residents, plans to buy Group Health Cooperatives former clinic on Maple Street.


The 6-year-old organization is working out final details to buy the 22,000-square-foot building at 3919 N. Maple from Group Health and hopes to open a clinic there May 1, says Peg Hopkins, CHASs CEO. She declines to disclose the terms of the proposed transaction. Group Health had occupied the building for 22 years, but closed its clinic there roughly 18 months ago.


CHAS plans minor upgrades to the building, but otherwise its perfectly functional, Hopkins says. The new clinic will employ 22 people, including psychologists, physicians, dentists, and support staff. The organization plans to offer both medical and dental services there, she says.


When the Maple Street clinic opens, CHAS will be able to provide access to all four quadrants of the community, which was our goal, Hopkins says.


CHAS also operates clinics in downtown Spokane, at 328 W. Sprague, in the Spokane Valley, at 9227 E. Main, and in northeast Spokane, at 4001 N. Cook.


CHASs Cook Street clinic, which is inside the Northeast Community Center, currently is undergoing a $120,000 expansion that will increase its space there by 40 percent, Hopkins says. The renovation work should be completed in early May and includes doubling the size of its lab, adding an exam room, and creating a waiting area, she says.


All of the clinics provide medical services, and CHAS currently provides dental care at its downtown and Cook Street facilities, she says.


The organization employs a total of 85 people. In fiscal year 2001, ending in October, CHAS is expected to serve between 18,000 and 20,000 people, handling 40,000 medical and dental care visits, Hopkins says.