Mountain Community Health Partnership celebrated the grand opening of its new Spruce Pine Health Center on Friday, bringing primary care, behavioral health services and an in-house pharmacy together at 13394 S. Highway 226 in Spruce Pine. The milestone caps years of planning for the nonprofit, which has served Western North Carolina since 1947.
A New Hub for Mitchell and Yancey Counties
According to Our Local Community Online, the Spruce Pine Health Center will serve as MCHP's new organizational headquarters, consolidating services for patients across Mitchell and Yancey counties and the surrounding region. MCHP is a Federally Qualified Health Center, a designation that, per the same report, allows it to provide primary care, behavioral health, dental, pharmacy and care management services regardless of a patient's ability to pay. As reported by WNC Business, the grand opening took place on Friday, November 6.
Tim Evans said the new facility brings multiple healthcare services together, strengthens care coordination and expands access to essential services, according to Our Local Community Online. State Senator Ralph Hise congratulated Mountain Community Health Partnership on the opening of the new center, the outlet reported, and the project drew support from a range of backers, including Representative Dudley Greene and other North Carolina General Assembly members, Thomas H. Phillips and Charlene Phillips, Starli P. McDowell, Felicia P. Spurling, the SECU Foundation, Dogwood Health Trust, Golden LEAF Foundation and others.
Conflicting Figures on Size and Timeline
A July 2025 report from WLOS said the planned building would measure 27,000 square feet and be completed by September 2026, while an August 2026 report from Our Local Community Online described the facility as 20,000 square feet with completion expected in late 2026.
The project traces back to a groundbreaking ceremony held on July 18, 2025, per WLOS at the time. MCHP had also been awarded a $300,000 Rural Health Care Construction Grant to support the Spruce Pine clinic project, Our Local Community Online reported in October 2025, with the organization projecting the investment would exceed $15 million and create 24 jobs.
Doubling Capacity for Rural Patients
Earlier reporting indicated the facility was expected to double MCHP's primary care capacity, allowing the organization to scale its services to help more than 10,000 patients annually regardless of insurance status or ability to pay, according to the August 2026 account from Our Local Community Online. That same report described the center as combining expanded primary medical care, a dedicated behavioral health wing and MCHP's first in-house retail pharmacy under one roof.
MCHP has said its existing Bakersville, Burnsville and Celo health centers, along with the Bakersville Dental Clinic, would remain open after the new Spruce Pine clinic was completed, per Our Local Community Online's October 2025 report. The organization can be reached at (828) 688-2104, with Jamie L. McMahan, MCHP's chief strategy officer, listed as media contact for the grand opening announcement.
