News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
DeKalb County’s new health department facility set for September, 2025 completion.
Tennessee Health Commissioner Ralph Alvarado said the next step for the building is to put the project out to bid. Alvarado said the new facility will be located right next to the current one.
“Things like a new kind of community outreach room expansion, expansion of the facility storage there is some of the things we’ll be working on,” Alvarado said. “And then they’re also going to try to improve the generator room, drug rooms, all, I think most of the facilities have that in play to try to improve a lot of those systems for them.”
Alvarado said the department will stay fully operational in the old facility until the new one is finished. He said the new building should improve the experience for everyone in the building and allow citizens to have more access to healthcare.
“I think a lot of it, during the COVID pandemic it kind of highlighted the need for a lot of access to quality healthcare facilities,” Alvarado said. “And so those things are probably more important than ever.”
Alvarado said counties across Tennessee received money for their health departments in recent years, but for many it was less expensive to build a brand new building than to repair the old one.
“Some of them had problems with HVAC units, roofs that were not designed well, had a lot of leaks, needed a lot of upgrades,” Alvarado said.
Alvarado said the project is being funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, meaning all of that funding must be spent by the end of 2026 at the latest.
“When this came through, I think the governor’s office, the general assembly, the previous commissioner, health commissioner also, I think had the vision to realize the need we had in health departments,” Alvarado said.
