Copyright ©2007
Ozark Tri-County Health Care
dba ACCESS Family Care

Site by PILR Technology Services.

Our History

In 1995 the county Department of Health Administrators of Barry, McDonald, and Newton Counties ( Pat Tichenor, Jerrie Wise, and Mary Ann Bradley) concerned about diminishing state funding for health programs began to collaborate on grant projects that would address their counties’ health concerns. Out of these discussions, George Thomas from the Bureau of Primary Health Care, a department of what was then called Missouri Department of Health, guided the administrators to form a consortium to write a grant proposal from the Primary Health Care Resources (PRIMO). The grant was designed to provide health care for all residents of these counties regardless of income, ethnicity, and inadequate or lack of health insurance.

That grant and a subsequent grant led to applying to the Bureau of Primary Health Care for Federally Qualified Health Center status. The first executive Director was hired and the office moved to a house in Pineville that served as both the clinic and administrative offices. The clinic functioned as an FQHC Look-Alike until full status was achieved in 1999 when the consortium, Ozark Tri-County Health Care, would have access to a 330 federal grant allowing them to provide sliding fee discounts to qualifying patients . The following year, the clinic moved to a storefront in downtown Anderson with the administrative offices moving just down the same street in another building.

Ozark Tri-County Health Care expanded to provide a medical primary care clinic in Cassville in 2002. It was named in honor of Dr. James D. Warn who served not only in Cassville, but throughout the small communities in southwest Missouri.

In 2002 a dental expansion grant was received and Ozark Dental became a reality in rented facilities in Anderson. Later, a federal grant through the efforts of Missouri Senator Kit Bond and Missouri’s Seventh District Representative Roy Blunt allowed construction of a new facility combining the medical and dental facilities which was named in honor of the 40+ years of Mary Ann Bradley’s service to the residents of McDonald County, The Mary Ann Bradley Medical/Dental clinic, a 6,900 square foot facility, opened in Anderson in a more accessible location in 2004.

Ozark Tri-County Health Care expanded into Joplin in 2004 in rented facilities at 2700 McClelland near both St. John’s and Freeman hospitals and began operating My Clinic, a primary health care facility. The following year, My Dental Clinic opened in other rented space at the same complex.

In 2008, in order to better reflect the geographic and service scope of the health center, the Board of Directors approved changing the name of the organization to ACCESS Family Care. The dream of the board and staff of ACCESS Family Care is to expand dental into Barry and Lawrence Counties.