Two MU Health Care facilities re-opened this month after closing temporarily to make repairs or move facilities.

The outpatient clinic of the George David Peak Memorial Burn and Wound Center resumed operation Feb. 10 after moving to the first floor of McHaney Hall at University Hospital. The Smiley Lane facility, which provides a variety of family medical and pharmacy services, re-opened Jan. 26 after closing for repairs due to water damage it sustained Dec. 31.

The burn clinic, which was previously located on the third floor of the University Hospital, made the move in order to increase space and update the clinic’s environment, MU Health Care spokesman Jeff Hoelscher said.

“We have always provided excellent care for our patients, but with the new facility we were able to increase the number of clinic rooms,” Hoelscher said.

Ground floor accessibility is an added perk of the new location.

“The transition has been great,” Hoelscher said. “Our patients appreciate the new updated environment that is easy to access.”

The new location is within feet of the parking garage and circle drive, where the hospital provides free valet parking for patients.

Although the outpatient clinic of the burn center has moved, the main burn center, which treats severely burned patients, is still housed in the Critical Care Tower.

The Smiley Lane Family Medicine Clinic, located at 2325 Smiley Lane, re-opened after it closed temporarily due to damage caused by a water leak during the holidays. Because no one was in the office when it occurred, the leak continued until the water set off a motion detector, calling in the fire department.

Due to water damage, the sheet rock walls, drywall, flooring and some cabinetry in the clinic were replaced.

“We knew we had to rip up all the flooring to properly dry up the concrete, or we could have a mold problem,” Clinic Operations Director David Mountjoy said.

The repairs went much more quickly than officials anticipated.

“We got it back together a lot faster than we thought we would,” Mountjoy said. “It was very cold out, and there were a lot of contractors available to come and work on the project.”

According to a news release, the physicians at the clinic were relocated to other university clinic facilities during the three-week closure.

“Even during closing, we were able to accommodate all those patients at different locations,” Mountjoy said.

Because of ongoing repairs, the obstetrics and gynecology physicians housed in the facility continue to operate from the Missouri OB/GYN Associates clinic.

“The delay is due to the addition of a new storage space being constructed in the OB/GYN area,” Hoelscher said. “This new space was already planned, so the repairs to the Smiley Lane facility allowed us to go ahead with this addition.”

These additions were originally slated to begin in spring. MU officials estimate the physicians will be able to return to Smiley Lane around March 21.