Messages of congratulations and thanks fill the last beam to be erected on the future Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center, 825 Euclid Ave. Attendees signed the beam during the April 13 Topping Off Ceremony. Leslie Collins

Above, Rafael Garcia writes words of congratulations. Garcia’s architect firm was hired to design the new Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center. Below, Laura Sullivan a pharmacy technician, and Cindy Tholen, a nutritionist with Women Infants and Children (WIC), sign their names to the beam. Leslie Collins

By Leslie Collins
Northeast News
April 20, 2011

Scrawling a name on public property is usually frowned upon.

However, during the Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center Topping Off Ceremony, that’s exactly what attendees were encouraged to do.

The April 13 ceremony marked the nearly completed steel framework on the new health center, 825 Euclid Ave. Only one steel beam was left to erect – the one reserved for signing names and messages. With a black Sharpie, staff and attendees filled the beam with signatures and words of congratulations for the new health center, which will serve an additional 7,500 patients.

“I can’t believe this day has come,” Samuel U. Rodgers Chief Operating Officer Ralph Caro told the crowd. “Your signature will be a legacy we’re providing for our children for many years to come.”

The new, three-story building totals 68,000 square feet and will be completed in December of 2011.

It’s modeled after a pelican, the symbol for compassion and the logo for Samuel U. Rodgers.

Rafael Garcia, owner of Rafael Architects, said a pelican will pluck a feather from its breast, feeding its blood to its young when other food is not available.

The concept for the design, he said, was “taking care of your own.”

To signify this, his firm designed the roofline to represent a pelican’s wings in flight on one end and the wings hovering over her young on the other.

Asked why the health center needed a new building, Caro said, “The current facility is about 41 years old and we just don’t have the capacity to handle the influx of patients that we have. Not only that, the cost was prohibitive to bring it up to accreditation standards.”

In 2010, Samuel U. Rodgers served a combined 18,000 patients at its eight locations in the Kansas City metropolitan area and Lexington, Mo. More than 90 percent of patients are living at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

To serve the increased influx of patients, the new health center will hire an additional 29 staff.

The current building will be razed to make room for a “legacy park,” complete with amphitheater, rain gardens and other landscaping, and walking trails. The legacy park will be completed in the spring of 2012.

“There were so many people that have been involved in this project and so many disappointments because we’ve been trying long before I came here to replace this building,” Caro told Northeast News. “To actually see this coming together is just wonderful.”