New Brimfield HealthCare facility to open in 2027
By JEFF LAMPE
For The Weekly Post
BRIMFIELD – The questions can stop.
Following a Feb. 18 groundbreaking for its new OSF HealthCare Brimfield medical office, there’s no need to ponder whether a clinic is coming to the corner U.S. Route 150 and Maher Road just east of town.
“It’s a pleasure to do this project. A pleasure to work with a great partner and so many great people,” Brimfield business owner Rita Kress said. “So many people have been saying, ‘When’s it going to happen?’
“Well, it’s happening.”
Construction on the 4,300-square-foot primary-care medical clinic is expected to start this spring and continue through the year according to Dr. Mike Cruz, chief operating officer of OSF HealthCare. Cruz said there is still site work to be done before construction can start, along with taking bids and lining up local contractors.
But Cruz said architectural drawings and most pre-construction work is already done for the building, which will be built on a concrete slab and will share design features common to other OSF clinics.
That standardization is done on purpose, Cruz said: “The board has to approve any major changes, so we try to minimize that.”
If purchasing goes well and weather cooperates, Cruz said construction could be done in 6-9 months. So while no formal date has been set for a grand opening, patients will likely be seen in the new clinic in early 2027.
The new building replaces the current clinic at 111 E. Knoxville St., which Cruz described as challenging. That facility dates to the early 1980s, when the Brimfield Area Men’s Club recruited a doctor to town by providing an office. One of those doctors, who arrived in 1988, was Dr. Robert Bevill. He was smiling broadly at the groundbreaking and said that in addition to providing more space, a shiny new building will also help attract physicians.
“It will be easier to provide state-of-the-art care with a facility like this,” Bevill said. “It will be more spacious and welcoming, with a ground-level entrance, and provide a specific room for skin procedures and other small surgical procedures to be performed.”
Plans also call for dedicated space for physical-therapy services.
“This groundbreaking represents more than a new building. It represents continued investment in the people and families of Brimfield,” Bevill said. “Our common goal is to provide excellence in health and wellness long into the future.”
Bevill said he plans to still be seeing patients when the clinic opens.
Cruz said building a new clinic in Brimfield is a calculated move.
“Part of this is a growth strategy,” he said. “We wouldn’t do a new build if we didn’t think there was that opportunity. The land also has opportunities for other demands. So there’s potential for that depending on how well we do.”
Cruz noted that OSF formerly had facilities in Elmwood, Williamsfield and Farmington, but would not speculate on any additional expansion.
“We’re going to see how well we do here in the Brimfield community first,” he said. “That’s really the intent, to keep more patients in the community.”
Kress helped bring the project to Brimfield by donating the 3.5 acres it will sit on and by using her skills of persuasion to keep the project on the front burner for OSF. Bevill said Kress also donated money to the project.
