Equitas Health expanding its Dayton medical office

Ever since Equitas Health expanded its focus from treating and preventing HIV to an LGBTQ focus, its number of Dayton-area patients has climbed.

Now the nonprofit provider is doubling the size of its Dayton medical office so it can grow from 6,000 to 10,000 annual patient visits.

Equitas is adding 4,000 square feet of clinical space and will go from nine to 26 exam rooms at its medical office in the Wright Health Building, at 1222 S. Patterson Blvd.

“By adding exam rooms, it will allow us to spend more time with patients and will allow us to room them more quickly. And by adding additional staff, we will be able to see more patients and address more issues,” said Bill Hardy, president and CEO of Equitas Health.

The new medical center space will be completed by Thanksgiving and some additional parts of the office will be under renovation until early 2020, Hardy said.

Patient care will continue uninterrupted while the renovations are underway.

Equitas is spending about $600,000 on the expansion and will add about six employees.

In 2016, the health care organization, formerly called AIDS Resource Center Ohio, changed its name to Equitas Health and expanded its mission to more broadly focus on the LGBTQ community.

Equitas sees patients on a sliding fee scale based on income and has expanded its medical services in recent years to include primary care, behavioral health, dentistry and other services. Equitas also operates a specialty pharmacy out of the Wright Health Building.

Equitas splits its headquarters between Dayton and Columbus and has 17 offices in 11 cities, serving about 67,000 people.