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Vera French hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday, Oct. 11 to celebrate the expansion in Duck Creek.

This is Vera French’s second full-service community mental health clinic. The clinic at Duck Creek provides mental health counseling, medication evaluation and management, as well as coordinated support services. Duck Creek location also provides same-day access to mental health counseling evaluations.

“Vera French is all about meeting people where they are,” Richard Whitaker, CEO of Vera French Community Mental Health Clinics, said. “It’s about making our services barrier-free and providing access. This is a great location. We’re in a place where more people can access our services, and that makes all the difference to so many people that otherwise might not get into the services that they need.”

“We have our MST, Multi Systematic Therapy Team,” Chris McCormick-Pries, a nurse practitioner and mentor for Vera French clinics, said. “Therapists work not just with a child, but with the systems that a child is a part of, including their school, their family. If they are involved with juvenile court, they also engage those providers in a systematic approach to trying to help those kids and families.”

Vera French says they plan on putting all of the children and family services in one place, different than their location on Central Park Avenue in Davenport. The new Vera French location is in the old TBK Bank building on Middle Road in Bettendorf.

Earlier this year, Vera French acquired 26,000 square feet on the first three floors of the four-story former bank building at 852 Middle Road. This expansion will help meet the growing mental health needs of the Quad Cities and the larger region.

Vera French is welcoming new patients with the help of additional staff members, including
psychiatric-certified Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners (ARNPs), who are experts in helping people heal from mental illness. The expansion provides additional space for approximately 20 new jobs in the QC region, mainly licensed providers of mental health services.

“The demand for the services Vera French provides has never been higher, and the
Vera French Clinic at Central Park is at capacity,” Dr. Whitaker said. “This expansion is about increasing access to professional mental health services in our community, with the goal of serving 100 additional people every day.”

For more information, visit the Vera French website HERE.

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