POMEROY — A 13-acre parcel of land near Rocksprings is large enough to accomodate the Family Health Care clinic and a freestanding 24-hour emergency room county commissioners hope to build in the future, Commissioner Mick Davenport said Thursday.

Family Health Care, Inc., Chillicothe, has received over $1 million in federal economic stimulus funds and will secure a low-interest loan to build a 10,000 square-foot outpatient health center in Meigs County. While no committment has been made on the part of Family Health Care or the Meigs County Community Improvement Corporation, which owns the property, the non-profit health care agency hopes to build there.

CEO Mark Bridenbaugh said earlier this week he had been working with commissioners, CIC and Economic Development Director Perry Varnadoe to develop a long-term site plan for the land, at the junction of U.S. 33 and Ohio 7 near Meigs High School and the First Southern Baptist Church. He said topographical surveys and other site preparations are also underway or being considered as the Federally-Qualified Health Center prepares for loan funding through the Farmers Home Administration.

Commissioners proposed the E.R. building’s construction as a federal stimulus project, but no funds have been awarded.

The county held an option on the site as a potential health care campus, but the CIC eventually purchased it for that purpose after the option expired. Commissioners and the county economic development office are now preparing an application for funding through the Economic Development Adiminstration to build a free-standing 24-hour emergency room on the site.

Davenport said Thursday the application has not yet been filed. The county’s EDA application has been identified as the top priority for EDA funds in the entire Buckeye Hills/Hocking Valley Regional Development District.

The EDA grant, if awarded, would provide half of the construction funds under its usual funding mechanism. The county could secure a loan through the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the remainder of the cost.

The facility would cost an estimated $6 million, based on conceptual designs completed by Architech Jerry Goff of Huntington, W.Va., including the cost of furnishings, fixtures and equipment.

Commissioners said Thursday they would prefer to “partner” with an existing health system for medical services at the new emergency center. While conversations have been ongoing in some degree or another with existing providers in the region, no concrete commitment has ever been secured.

Commissioners indicated Thursday a new lead may be developing with an expanding health system, but would not detail what system was involved in discussions or how that organization might play a role in providing emergency room care once again in this county.