News

Doctors renovate former school for new clinic

September 29, 2011

Drs. Jim and Kari Galyen heard opportunity knocking when Sunny Meadow School went up for sale in Norfolk.

As family practitioners in Atkinson — which is Jim's hometown — the two had talked about moving farther east since Kari hails from Pierce. Plus, Jim's brother, Jeff, also lives in Norfolk.

"We had been thinking about it for a handful of years," Kari said. "Then the building came up and my husband had the grand foresight to see the opportunity with the building, and we pursued it."

One zoning change and a few floor plans later, the couple are nearly done with renovations to the former elementary school to make it into the Sunny Meadow Medical Clinic.

Jim said he spent most of his summer at the clinic so he could  help with the remodeling.

"It is a personal attachment," he said. "There's a lot of pride. To see where it's at today . . . I'm very proud of the building. I'm proud of the guys who worked here. I'm proud of the outcome."

Demolition didn't take up too much time, he said, with only two walls that had to be knocked down.

Using only the north part of the building, — for the time being — they have converted four classrooms and the library/entryway into eight exam rooms, a radiology suite and laboratory, as well as doctors' offices and a reception area.

"I think, for the most part, people will be appreciative of the small things, the little things that we've done that will benefit the patient only," Jim said. "That is to say, we did them (renovations) with the patient in mind, whether it be a pediatric patient or a handicapped patient."

An extra bonus of the former school building is the spacious hallways, Kari said.

"It was nice floor plan with the nice wide hallways that a school offers. That's different from a typical medical clinic," Kari said. "It doesn't feel so claustrophobic. We have a lot of space to move around."

Creating a structure that lends itself to efficient patient care was important to the Galyens, as well keeping the nostalgia of the building in place, they said. They hope patients will be proud of the job they did with the building.

"We tried to maintain the integrity of the school," he said. "You'll still see the same hallways, entryways in and out of the hallways. And, we left the exterior the same. We didn't change any of the exterior."

Set to open Monday, Oct. 3, the Sunny Meadow Medical Clinic will include the Galyens and physician assistant Jean Ahlers. As a family practice, it will provide health care services for every age, which includes treatment of chronic illnesses, well-baby checks and walk-ins.

"We offer the whole gamut of services," Kari said.

The clinic also has state-of-the-art X-ray and laboratory services in-house, which is fairly unusual in a private clinic, they said.

"My biggest reason for it was just for patient care," Kari said. "Overall care of the patients care is improved by having it in-house.

 

By GRACE PETERSEN. View the story on the Norfolk Daily News website.