HANNIBAL- Opening Monday, Nov. 17, Clarity Healthcare’s new Progress Rd. clinic makes access to care more accessible for the whole family.
Walking into the new Clarity Healthcare clinic at 235 Progress Rd., visitors are greeted by spacious waiting areas, an overflow of natural light, kid-friendly, colorful artwork and an easy to navigate lobby. The space was designed to put people at ease, especially those who may not have always felt welcome in traditional healthcare settings.
In a press release, Beth Wiemelt, vice president of integrated health services at Clarity Healthcare, said, “Our new Clarity Healthcare location stands as a model for the future of community- based care. It’s accessible, integrated and truly centered on the whole person.”
The 21,000-square-foot facility brings together multiple lines of care—medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy and social services—under one roof. Previously, Clarity Healthcare’s services were spread across multiple Hannibal sites, which often meant patients had to drive to different locations for care.
By co-locating services, Clarity Healthcare, a Federally Qualified Health Center with locations across Missouri and Illinois, aims to reduce the barriers that often keep rural and underserved populations from accessing consistent, quality care.
Wiemelt uses an example of a typical Clarity Healthcare client to illustrate the kind of seamless experience Clarity Healthcare hopes to make possible.
Wiemelt shares that Amanda, a Hannibal mother of two, may be on Medicaid and unsure where to start to obtain care for herself and her family. She needs a primary care provider for herself, a dental checkup she’d been putting off for years and someone to talk to about the anxiety that had been building since losing her job.
Walking into Clarity Healthcare’s Progress Rd. clinic, Amanda can be connected to all of these services at once. Amanda can not only get her needs met but also enroll her children in care, scheduling their first dental cleanings and latest immunizations.
Clarity Healthcare focuses on helping underserved populations, serving 11,310 unique clients in 2024, many of them being on Medicaid. Roughly one in five Missourians are enrolled in Medicaid, and 39 percent of those recipients are children—many living in areas where transportation and access are ongoing challenges.
Behavioral’s Progress Rd. facility will house Clarity Healthcare’s primary care for adults and youth, women’s health, psychiatry, comprehensive dental, immunizations, outpatient behavioral health therapy, addiction medicine, pharmacy, insurance navigation and care coordination services under one roof. Housing assistance programs will also be available on site.
Gregory Lowes, Clarity Healthcare Behavioral health director, sees the collaboration in the clinic as a way to spot gaps in a patient’s experience and help remove barriers to comprehensive care.
“We know that mental health care is as important as physical health care. They’re inseparable,” Lowes said. “If we are feeling low mentally, this can manifest in our bodies in different ways. Housing these service lines together helps us see the whole health picture of our patient more clearly.”
Individuals with both mental and physical health conditions have higher risks for chronic diseases and poorer health outcomes when they are treated in separate systems.
According to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), individuals with documented mental illness die 10–25 years earlier than members of the general population, largely due to untreated or poorly managed physical conditions.
Integrated care can lead to better management of chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease and hypertension by addressing behavioral factors, including medication, adherence and stress. According to the National Institutes of Health, integrating services like these can increase follow-up rates by as much as 40%, meaning patients are more likely to continue care and improve long-term outcomes.
“We want to create a welcoming, easy, accessible experience. There are so many things in life that are difficult. Receiving quality, supportive healthcare shouldn’t be one of them,” Wiemelt said.
To learn more about Clarity Healthcare services or to schedule a visit, go to clarity-healthcare.org.