New medical clinic approved in Abby
A local business owner hopes to open up a new medical clinic in Abbotsford by Nov. 1 after the city council approved an agreement last Thursday that will provide him with land just off STH 13 on the new Opportunity Drive.
Dan Hannula, owner of DI, Inc. in the city’s industrial park, told the city’s planning commission that he plans to break ground this summer on the 2,500-square foot Doctors Care Medical Clinic.
The clinic will operate on what’s called the “direct primary care” (DPC) healthcare model, allowing patients to pay a monthly fee membership in exchange for a wide range of basic medical services.
“DPC services — now a grassroots movement — are able to do this while offering patients a higher level of service, communication, and better relationships than what you find in our larger, more disconnected healthcare systems,” Hannula wrote in a statement.
Hannula’s wife, Dr. Joan Hannula, currently works at the state prison in Stanley, and says she believes in a “patient- centric model” that focuses on convenience, lower costs, quality care, more time with the doctor and access to diagnostic and preventative care.
“Do you remember when there was a local doctor, the one that you could directly call or reach out to? The down-to-earth and relatable doc who knew you and your family and cared about your health and wellbeing,” the Hannulas wrote. “This clinic is just that!”
Under the agreement approved last week, the city will sell the .73-acre lot to the Hannulas for $17,500, and the city will provide that amount of title insurance. The developers are then committed to constructing a building worth at least $500,000 by the end of 2021, with future property tax payments into the city’s TIF district.
The city purchased the vacant lot north of McDonald’s in 2018, at a cost of $240,000. The entire parcel was 1.25 acres, but about half of that was used to construct Opportunity Drive, a road that is set to extended to the west into the city’s future industrial park.
In other news, the commission and council approved a certified survey map for property on the corner of Hemlock Street and Third Avenue owned by Dr. Norvel Jackson, who wants to separate his current lot into two, one with a house on it and the other with a duplex.
