MULBERRY, Fla. — Polk County was named one of the fastest growing counties in the country. With continued growth, the area is also looking to add more health care facilities, especially in its southern more rural areas.

What You Need To Know

  • Polk County Board of Commissioners approved $4 million to purchase and renovate a new community health center in Mulberry

  • The new facility will be located at 1010 N. Church Ave. and will be the second location for Central Florida Health Care

  • The current facility has seen an increase in people using its services since its opening in 2015

To help, the board of commissioners approved spending $4 million for the purchase and renovation of a new community health center in Mulberry.

The new facility will be the second Central Florida Health Care Center location. The first was opened back in 2015 and nearly a decade later, the growth is evident.

Generation after generation, Jessica Maxwell has had the privilege of seeing her patients grow and start their own families.

“Being able to help the community and give back is all I could ask for in this position,” she said.

She’s an advanced practice registered nurse at Central Florida Health Care.

She works with children of all ages, and she’s surprised at the growing number of patients at the clinic.

“We can’t even keep the parking lot going where we don’t have parking issues because we just have too many people trying to get in,” she said.

The current health care facility serves a lot of the migrant community in the southern part of the county. It offers services like pediatric care, dentistry and adult primary care.

CEO Ann Claussen says they establish facilities in areas where health care is hard to access.

Through a needs assessment, they were able to get an idea of the growing needs of the community.

Those needs are why the location will have a drive-through style pharmacy, and will specifically serve the adult population.

“This location will allow us to expand in Mulberry and also pick up patients from the south Lakeland area,” she said.

One patient at a time, she hopes this expansion can make a difference in health care access for the community.

The new health center will be located at 1010 North Church Avenue and renovations are projected to take 14 months.

The board of commissioners also approved a little more than $400,000 to help the Winter Haven Hospital’s Center for Behavioral Health with renovations.