Key statistics
- 35,000-square-foot clinic opened in 2014.
- 28,000-square-foot addition and renovation in 2019.
- 27 exam rooms.
- Tribal client: Pokagon Band of Potawatomi.
- Rural setting on tribally held lands.
The Pokagon Health Services Clinic, Dowagiac, Mich., serving approximately 5,000 citizens in southwest Michigan and northern Indiana, was Seven Generation AE’s (7GAE’s) first attempt to build a culturally reflective health care facility to serve the community.
The Pokagon Band was interested in a priority placed on improving holistic wellness from early in the design process, and the resulting allocation of spaces translated this guiding principle into the building’s final form.
In its newly expanded footprint, an entire wing is dedicated to walk-in gym facilities, a cafe and a family activity center capable of hosting tribewide events, even in inclement weather, in addition to regularly scheduled wellness programs or group fitness classes.
The renovation and addition were driven by increasing demand for areas that do the most to prevent the onset of acute conditions, versus a need to expand the existing 27 exam room primary care clinic.
That is why 7GAE again partnered with the Pokagon Band to design and oversee the construction of the family activity center, behavioral and mental health services and dental clinics. The expansion of the dental clinic offered the opportunity for behavioral health services to move into a new space in the addition, allowing for increased privacy from the rest of the clinics.
