‘A place to be proud of’ Newly opened Lawrence County Health Department shines in south Mt. Vernon

Healthcare in Lawrence County just got a bit better thanks to the grand opening of the new Lawrence County Health Department, 1549 Missouri, Mt. Vernon. The $6 million state-of-the-art facility is the newest construction to open its doors in the neighborhood, joining the Lawrence County Jail, Lawrence County Emergency Services 911 and Ozarks TravelCenter.
County officials, construction managers and community members congregated at the new health department the morning of Monday, March 10, for a ceremonial ribbon cutting and open house.
During brief words prior to the cutting, Lawrence County Director of Health Services Janella Spencer thanked all those involved who made the day possible and revisited her path through the years.
“This is my 34th year with the Lawrence County Health Department,” Spencer said. “I started in the basement of the courthouse which consisted of six rooms. Then we moved to 105 W. North Street—it was a remodeled grocery store—and now to our new fully handicapped accessible and modern facility. … Look at this building you guys, the Lawrence County Health Department is a place to be proud of.”
Lawrence County Presiding Commissioner Bob Senninger said the pandemic was what pushed the county to upgrade its health department.
“We probably started talking about this during COVID,” Senninger said. “COVID kind of set this whole thing off because we were unable to service people the way we should and we had to do shot clinics and stuff at the MARC or under tents and that’s one of the reasons we built such a large facility over here because if we ever had another pandemic and had to service people that way they could just drive in and drive out. The pandemic pretty much got us rolling on this thing so probably 2021 is when we started getting serious about it.

Senninger added that the former health department home—just off the Mt. Vernon square—is now leased as a zone office for the Missouri State Highway Patrol, as well as storage for the county.
Senninger celebrated the fact that the new building is already paid for, thanks mainly to pandemic-related funds, a point echoed by Lawrence County Treasurer Kathy Fairchild.
“The county is able to pay for it completely - no debt - thanks to coronavirus relief funds and grants obtained by the health department administrator, Janella Spencer, along with the land from the city,” said Lawrence County treasurer Kathy Fairchild.