About

The Moniteau County Health Center came into existence in January 1975. It was called the Moniteau County Nursing Service at the time. The nursing service was a demonstration health unit supported by the former Missouri Division of health, funded by a government grant. The one-year grant in the amount of $25,000 made it possible to establish the service.

The primary reason the grant was approved was that Moniteau was one of only ten out of the 114 counties in Missouri without a public health program and the officials believed there was a definite need for such a service. The experimental program was established in order to acquaint the public with the operation of a county health center. The nursing service office was located at a Moniteau County nursing home, Convlacare Nursing Home of California, Mo.

From the year 1977 to 1989, the nursing service was housed in three rooms of the California City Hall building. There was no water or restroom facilities (besides going down the hall to the public facilities), well-child clinics were held in basements of churches, and WIC clients were assessed and counseled in partitioned rooms with no privacy. The first family planning clinic (started in 1988) was held in the basement of an old hospital-turned nursing home. The actual exam room was in the bathroom of the basement. Needless to say, a tax was needed to continue serving the public needs.

During the 1980’s it became clear that the county commission could no longer afford to support the nursing service. It was decided during this period of time that the nursing service would have to go to vote for a mill tax-supported entity. The tax was passed and on April 1, 1986, the nursing service became known as the Moniteau Co. Health Center. The first Board of Trustees meeting was held on July 24, 1986. The land was purchased and a building was constructed for health center use in April 1989.

Through the years following the establishment of the health center, some duties have remained, new duties/responsibilities added, and more staff needed to perform the overall operations of a health department. When the present building was built we were able to offer two unused rooms to the new University Behavioral Counseling Services being offered satellite through the University of Missouri. As we continued to grow, the additional rooms were needed and the counseling service relocated.

On November 14, 2005, the health center board of trustees met with an architectural firm for the purpose of expansion of the health center by 2000 sq ft. On July 3, 2006, work began on the new health center addition. This addition was completed on January 23, 2007. The renovation of the present building and the completion of the new addition provided extra space. The additional space provided a third exam room to be used for clinics, three additional offices, a medical storage area, and a conference room/kitchen that can be used as an emergency control area and for community meetings.

Board members include Carlene Petree, Diane Weicken, Don Vanderfeltz, Kathy Burns, and Chris Hurt. Carlene Petree is the board President.