Deborah Johnson WoodSaint Mary's Health Care has nearly completed extensive renovations of its Clinica Santa Maria, adding exam rooms in anticipation of serving more patients. Clinica Santa Maria, 730 Grandville Ave. SW, specializes in providing health care to Grand Rapids' Spanish speaking community and logs some 22,000 patient visits annually. The renovation of one-third of the 10,000-square-foot facility adds two patient examination rooms, expands the pharmacy and medical records areas, and improves patient flow within the office. "We now have about three-and-a-half full-time-equivalent (FTE) physicians," says Bradford Mathis, Saint Mary's director of community benefits. "The two new exam rooms will allow us to accommodate five FTE physicians. That translates into accommodating about 2,000 additional patients a year."The two new exam rooms bring the total number to 15, plus two private consultation rooms: one for financial assistance services and one for handling doctor referrals. "Last fall we had two dental chairs, but we partner with Cherry Street Health Services for the dental so patients now go there," Mathis says. "We also had a maternal/infant health program that the Kent County Health Department provides at the patient's home, so we moved out that staff. Those changes freed up space."Mathis says 95 percent of Clinica's staff members speak Spanish. "A lot of our clients come from the neighborhood, but many come from farther out," Mathis says. "If they don't feel comfortable enough with their English, especially for medical care issues, they're willing to travel for that convenience."The renovations include wiring the clinic for electronic healthcare records capabilities that will tie into the Saint Mary's Health Care system. The date for launching the service is undecided. Some $110,000 in federal stimulus money funded most of the $120,000 renovation. The clinic is open during construction. The renovated space will open by February 1. Source: Bradford Mathis, Saint Mary's Health CareDeborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].

Deborah Johnson WoodThree young professionals have launched a social media management company in Grand Rapids and they say word about their services is spreading fast. Jordan Sipperley, 22, Patrick Szabo, 20 and Joelle Workman, 21, launched Social Net Mgmt in December after striking up a conversation with Betsy Borden, owner of Peninsula Trading Travel Gear, 972 Cherry SE. "Patrick made a connection because he was a customer in her shop," Sipperley says. "They chatted about ways to get people into the store. Patrick said I can help you with that, are you on Facebook and Twitter?"Social Net Mgmt built Peninsula Trading a Facebook page, created a Twitter identity and is rebuilding the store's web site. They gather information from Borden about store specials, new products and things going on with travel and backpacking, and then update the store's social networking sites with the information. Borden says she was so pleased with the results she spread the word. "Since December we've landed clients like Wealthy at Charles and Gaia Cafe," Sipperley says, "and we're negotiating with six other clients who plan to launch web sites, and Facebook and Twitter accounts by mid-February."The three owners work from their homes or coffee shops until they can set up offices in a space together, an event Sipperley hopes will happen by early summer. All three live in or near the East Hills business district. "We know how we feel when social networking is targeted at us; we don't like feeling tricked into things," Sipperley says. "More people are on Facebook and Twitter, so we're meeting people where they already are, sharing info they might want and giving them ideas."Szabo and Workman do much of the graphic design that's needed. The company partnered with Drew Melton of justlucky for expertise with client branding campaigns. Source: Jordan Sipperley, Social Net Mgmt; Betsy Borden, Peninsula Trading Travel GearRelated ArticlesNew East Hills store is a traveler's paradiseDeborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].

Whitehall's Cool Cities designation a few years ago brought an influx of funding for revitalization of the downtown that has paid off in thousands of dollars of investment and some new businesses. According to excerpts from the story:The City of Whitehall is seeing visible results of its efforts to revitalize the downtown through the state's Cool Cities Blueprints for Michigan Downtowns program. Last Tuesday, Muskegon Area First representatives gave an update on the implementation progress of the program which began locally in 2006 with the HyettPalma Whitehall Downtown Blueprint study. Muskegon Area First was hired by Whitehall's Tax Increment Financing Authority to lead the city through the Blueprint process. This past year, several downtown businesses took advantage of TIFA's facade matching grant program, pumping in nearly $100,000 in private investment to match the $23,000 in TIFA funds.Read the complete story here.

An outreach initiative by a Grand Rapids economic development organization generated 31 percent more new business prospects for the region than last year. That translates into millions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs for the area.According to excerpts from the story:Stepping up outreach to consultants who help corporations decide where to locate new facilities generated increased inquiries for The Right Place Inc. last year.The economic development organization worked with 117 prospects in 2009, a 31 percent increase from the 89 prospects in 2008.Fifteen of the 117 prospects ultimately made a decision to remain in the area or to locate a facility here, generating investments of $213.4 million, retaining 555 jobs and creating 3,643 new positions in 2009, Right Place Business Development Manager George Bosnjak said.Read the complete story here.here

In keeping with its commitment to innovation and sustainability, Grand Rapids Community College is introducing a new class: Wind Energy Technology (ER 145) starting in February.