Clark Center envisions uses for old Monett hospital; project may cost up to $15 million

Exterior of former St. Vincent’s Hospital, and the Cox Monett Hospital since the early 1990s. (Photo by Murray Bishoff)

Hoping to build on vision as center for not-for-profits
One year after taking over ownership of the old Cox Monett Hospital at Euclid and Benton in Monett, the Clark Community Mental Health Center is offering tours of the facility and sharing its vision for how to make the building invaluable to the community again.
The Clark Center acquired the nearly 110,000 square foot property, including three buildings, from Life 360 Community Services for $1 million. Clark negotiated with Cox Health for the building before the decision to erect a new hospital was made, but the need for such resources was not clear at that time.
Since then, Missouri became one of only eight states selected to participate in a federal pilot program creating certified community behavioral health centers. The Clark Center is one of 16 such programs in the state, and one of 67 in the nation. Staffing for Clark has grown from 80 in 2017 to more than 200.
“We are not government,” said Brad Ridenour, chief executive officer for the Clark Center. “We are an administrative agency, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit entity. We serve as an administrative agent to provide mental health and substance abuse services to Barry, Lawrence and Dade counties.
“In 2016-17, the Clark Center served just under 1,600 people with at least one service. Last fiscal year we served over 5,500 people with at least one service.”
Part of the problem Life 360 faced was the size of the project, and the expense of running the property. Ridenour said monthly expenses to run the buildings, including insurance, run around $320,000 a year, far more than Life 360 figured, an expense compounded by shortcuts like not adequately maintaining the facility’s massive boiler system.
“We’re in the process of de-hospitalizing the facility,” Ridenour said.
Services in outer buildings to stay
The two adjacent buildings have tenants that will likely stay in place. The former Newbold doctor’s office building to the south has become the new location for the Public Defender’s office, under a five-year lease.
The 6,500 square foot former offices for OBGYN services to the north began housing a preschool and daycare under Life 360. Clark let Life 360 operate it until the Giggles and Grace preschool, which operates two other facilities in Monett, took over. Ridenour noted that during the summer, that facility ran at maximum licensed capacity of 99 children. Giggles and Grace now runs daycare and after-school programs there.
In the atrium between the hospital and the north facility, Access Family Care, a federally qualified healthcare provider, has a family nurse practitioner who takes Medicare and helps serve clients with no pay source.
That leaves close to 90,000 square feet of space in the old hospital building.
“Our goal is to convert all three buildings into 70,000 square feet of usable office space for 501(c)3 non-profit or government or pseudo-government service agencies,” Ridenour said. “The entire project may cost $12 million to $15 million.”
The Clark Center has already renovated the east wing of the third floor and moved its administrative offices from its Pierce City headquarters in the historic armory building. With greater demand for client services, the hospital provided an opportunity to move the chief executive and chief financial officers, quality assurance, human resources, payroll and billing, thus creating more room in Pierce City for client services.
Plans for space
A map Ridenour is sharing with touring groups shows how the Clark Center envisions using the hospital, which include expansion of their services, services of other groups already occupying space in the building and the possible addition of Access Family Care. Ridenour added that there is also entire wings of the facility available for lease.
Describing the vision
“The Clark Center is a larger non-profit that can float other non-profits,” Ridenour said. “There are smaller organizations operating out of their homes. We hope to see them work together, serving the public better, and thus they are able to bring more of their money to their services. We are in need of a lot of funding to do this. We’re looking for non-profits and philanthropic individuals who want to give to benefit the community in an impactful way that will serve thousands. There will be naming opportunities too.
“This is still a place that continues to get people healthy. We want people to buy into the dream.”

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