WILLISTON The Great Plains Women's Health Center in Williston will hold a groundbreaking ceremony June 30, and the process of building a new clinic will begin.

The new clinic, which will be about 9,500 square feet, will offer 15 exam rooms. Great Plains Women's Health Center offers obstetrical and gynecological care for women in all stages of life.

"The big change is that we'll be increasing the number of exam rooms from five to 15, which will improve patient flow and hopefully patient satisfaction as well," said Leland Tong, business manager for the Great Plains Women's Health Center.

"This is an investment in the community and in the region. To make a sizable investment in a building like this really makes a commitment to the region," he added.

Construction for the building is scheduled to begin mid-July, and will be completed sometime next spring.

The new building will allow providers to offer more in office procedures, in addition to increasing the number of appointments that are available.

"We had run out of room at our current location, and it limits the number of days that we can be in clinic and providing appointments to our patients. This will give us more space to provide the care that we're already providing," said Dr. Beverly Tong.

"All of the equipment will be new in the rooms, and we'll be purchasing some additional pieces of equipment for procedures that we're not currently offering," she added.

The clinic's service area includes eastern Montana and northwestern North Dakota, and many patients travel a distance for appointments. Tong said the new building will offer more room for a larger, more comfortable waiting area.

"Just from a cosmetic standpoint, I think it'll be a much more enjoyable setting, and hopefully it will also cut down on wait time for people," Tong said.

Dr. Beverly Tong partners with another obstetrician, Dr. Sara Solberg; Sheri Skalsky, certified women's health nurse practitioner; and Kerry Raghib, certified nurse midwife. With the addition of more space, Tong said, a new provider might be added.

"In the future, we hope to add an additional physician. Our goals would also include providing a higher level of infertility care, and offering more office based procedures," Beverly Tong said.