Deschutes County has delayed its timeline by two months to build a new health clinic in Sisters, amid concerns the county would miss a deadline for a grant to finance more than half of the project’s $805,000 cost.

The new timeline would have the proposed 2,700-square-foot health clinic done sometime in August. Initial plans had the project wrapping up in June.

The county in December announced plans for a new school-based health clinic, operating next to Sisters High School.

The facility would replace a small modular building the school district has used for health services over the last two years and which is still in use.

The new clinic would treat adults as well as students.

But the project leans heavily on a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The county’s original grant terms hinged on the project being done in June.

But that timeline assumed that another planned project in the area, an assisted living center, would be built first, along with water and electricity hookups to the clinic property, according to Deschutes County Property and Facilities Director Susan Ross.

The assisted living center, proposed by a private developer, hasn’t come through, so the county has had to pay for much of the infrastructure work instead.

At a meeting with Deschutes County commissioners Monday, finance director Wayne Lowry said the health clinic project “was on ice for a while” because of the grant issues.

But the county was able to negotiate a three-month extension on the grant, giving them until Sept. 30 to finish the clinic.

“All of us can breathe easier,” Ross told commissioners Monday.

She said in an interview Tuesday that the school clinic project was never in jeopardy, and the county is still on track to receive the grant funds for construction.

The clinic “is a very small building, smaller than most houses in Bend,” and shouldn’t take more than three months to build, Ross said. Construction could start next month.

“We’re confident there will be substantial completion by Aug. 30,” she said. “Our goal is to be open by the time school starts.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7820, eglucklich@bendbulletin.com