Midland Woman Clinic | Frank Farzan Kholousi

Midland Women's Clinic prepares new location near Midland Memorial Mella McEwen | Posted: Tuesday, March 27, 2012 7:30 pm Midland Memorial Hospital's growth is expected to spur not only a revitalization of the surrounding area but also development of a medical community in proximity to the hospital. That was behind the decision by the doctors of Midland Women's Clinic to acquire what was most recently Eagle Charter School at 2506 W. Illinois Ave. -- just west of Andrews Highway -- and convert it into their new clinic. "We are designing a 19,547-square-foot medical building that includes 5,215 square feet of office space available," said Frank Kholousi with NC Sturgeon. "The new building will be retrofitted to accommodate state-of-the-art medical equipment to meet women's medical needs." Work already has begun to take the building down to its four walls, roof and floor, Kholousi said. The interior will be completely new and the exterior will be renovated "to provide a Frank Lloyd Wright look," he said. Building permits for the renovations should be granted in the coming weeks and construction is expected to take about eight months. Clinic staff may move in early next year, he said. Dr. David DeShan said he and his fellow doctors wanted a new facility close to the hospital and also knew they would have to act fast. "If we waited two years, there wouldn't be property available around the hospital so we decided to move now," said Dr. Ben Doke. He, DeShan and Dr. Brady Locke agreed that being close to Midland Memorial will allow them to offer better care to their patients. DeShan said the current location at MMH's West Campus is 11,000 square feet and houses six doctors and two physicians' assistants. In the new building, the clinic will take up about 14,000 square feet, leaving the remainder for office space. "It will give us more space and room to add new features and new doctors," he said. The new clinic will house an expanded procedure room to allow for more in-house medical procedures done under light anesthetic. Other services will include laser treatments and a clinical dietitian to help with weight-loss programs. DeShan said the doctors are excited about the new hospital facilities. "To a large extent, that will drive expansion around the hospital," he said. Doke agreed, predicting that the area will develop into a medical hub. The staff looked at a lot of possibilities when they decided to move, he said. "We acquired the property in September and at first we thought we'd have to tear the building down, but the engineers saw a diamond in the rough." Noting that the new location will be the clinic's third home, DeShan said the goal is to create a home that will last for the next 30 years.