Porter-Starke Services celebrated the expansion of the Marram Health Center in Hebron on Thursday, November 9.
Clarence Boykin, vice president of Marram Health Center, is pleased with how the expansion will allow for the organization to provide new services.
“We’re very happy to welcome an expansion of services to the Hebron community,” Boykin said. “We are now adding dental services to the clinic, which we previously didn’t have. We’re bringing in services for kids with autism. There’s even additional working space for the staff. We believe this is a win for not only the staff, but also the people we provide for.”
Marram Health Center focuses on offering comprehensive healthcare services for the community.
Elliott Miller, director of marketing and development at Porter-Starke Services, describes how long the expansion has been in the making.
“This expansion has been in the planning phase for more than two years now,” Miller said. “The construction project took about six months to set up. In just a short amount of time, this building has doubled in size and we believe this will benefit the community in the best way possible.”
Of all the new services the Marram Health Center will begin providing, Miller believes that the autism services will be one of the most important. Recently, Dr. Cynthia Hoess, MD, received a certification to diagnose children 14-48 months with autism. Miller is confident that this can help provide more information to families about their children at an early age.
“She splits time between our Hebron and Gary locations,” Miller said. “It’s a very unique certification to diagnose for a primary care pediatrician. We’re continuing to promote that service line as something we offer out of this clinic.”
Marram Health Center provides services in Gary, Hebron, and Portage. The Gary location was where the organization started.
Following the expansion of the Hebron clinic, Marram Health Center plans to look to improve the other locations accordingly. Jodi Ortiz, director of Marram Health Center, could see a similar renovation with the Gary location down the line.
“We see most of our patients at our Gary location,” Ortiz said. “That’s our busiest office. Maybe we’ll see a different expansion or something new to offer fresh services for that location. Our main objective is always providing the best care for patients and making them feel comfortable, so we’ll always prioritize that moving forward.”
The Portage location for Marram Health Center is the newest of the three. Boykin says that, by Porter-Starke Services already having a location out there prior to the Portage location being built earlier this year, it has already allowed them to figure out which services are most important.
“We found out that a lot of patients in their community also needed primary care services,” Boykin said. “Our primary clinic care offerings were expanded as a result. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has allowed us to offer services not only with the blessing of Porter-Starke Services, but also with other healthcare providers in the community where it is needed.”
While the Marram Health Center has taken strong leaps this year, the organization will continue to provide services and enhance the quality of life in Northwest Indiana. Boykin recognizes their board of directors, as well as Porter-Starke Services, with appreciation for their leadership to help make these significant changes possible.
For more information on Marram Health Center, you can visit their website.
