Health Clinic for the Homeless to be Built

Pinellas County will soon begin construction on a health clinic for the homeless and poor of Pinellas in Largo. It will be located near the Safe Harbor homeless shelter and the Pinellas County Jail, according to county documents. 

In October 2012, commissioners accepted a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to build the health clinic for homeless families with children, county documents show. 

According to a report by the Tampa Bay Times, the clinic will offer an array of services. 

" ... The building would house a primary care clinic, mental health services and housing placement assistance programs. A small library and children's room are planned for its first floor and, on the second, county officials have mapped out a "respite center" for people who have just left the hospital but are too unstable to return to life on the street.

The clinic also would offer dental checkups, gynecological exams and pediatric services."

County documents say once the homeless health clinic is completed, the building maintenance will be $151,920 in the first year and increase to $191,300 in five years. Expenses to operate the facility will be funded by grants, agency partners, and within the HHS operating budget, according to the county.

The county is adding $300,000 to this year's budget for the health clinic. 

To read the rest of the Times report and view renderings of the health clinic, visit Tampabay.com. 

Subscribe to the East Lake Patch newsletter to have local news delivered to your email each day. Sign up here.