EIR Healthcare, an industrial engineering firm for healthcare, is teaming up with Good Samaritan Hospital on two new modular community clinics in Central Valley, California.
The project, based in Bakersfield, is primarily funded by a program administered by the state’s department of healthcare services known as the Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP). The program, launched during COVID-19, allows the state to invest in mobile crisis infrastructure to expand behavioral health services.
“Our patients have waited far too long for accessible, comprehensive care,” Minty Dillon, CEO of Good Samaritan Hospital, said in a press release. “By using modular construction, we are bringing medical, behavioral health and substance use services together under one roof—delivered faster and more efficiently than ever before. This approach isn’t just building a clinic; it’s building healthier futures.”
Modular construction involves constructing most of a building in a factory, then assembling it on-site. Experts say this type of construction is more reliable, sometimes cheaper and usually quicker than traditional construction. Compared to some other countries, the U.S. is lagging on modular construction.
The first modular building for Good Samaritan will be known as the Weedpatch Integrated Wellness Center. It will provide medical, mental health and substance use disorder treatment in a single visit with the goal of reducing treatment adherence issues and addressing social determinants. The second clinic will become the Weedpatch Family Wellness Center, which will focus on women and children and offer primary care, OB-GYN, psychiatry and medication services. Both are expected to be operational in 2026.
The clinics will be in Kern County, among the most medically underserved areas in the state. The county has less than one primary care doc for every 2,000 patients and faces limited access to behavioral health, substance use disorder treatment and culturally relevant services for a largely Hispanic community, per Geiger. Most Good Samaritan patients are also on Medicaid.
Both facilities will be 6,000 square feet and are designed to serve about 3,500 people annually. While EIR is the designer, the buildings will be built in the factory of Plant Prefab, a local manufacturer. EIR’s modular approach tackles key barriers that face rural healthcare development, executives say: extended construction timelines, limited local skilled labor and high costs. The process requires fewer workers and is helped along by automation at the factory. This year, EIR’s cost-per-square-foot is up to 40% cheaper than traditional construction, per executives.
“These projects wouldn’t pencil out for them if they were going to build them traditionally,” Grant Geiger, founder and CEO at EIR Healthcare, told Fierce Healthcare. He cited challenges like tariffs on building materials, cost increases and lack of skilled trades as reasons. “Our platform actually is what’s enabling it.”
Another benefit relates to permitting: Modular buildings are inspected and certified by the state instead of local municipalities. Since these two modular clinics are based on an identical floor plan, one approval is good for 18 months for both buildings. This would not be the case with traditional construction. “We’re dramatically shortening that development timeline,” Geiger said.
Geiger says this model is ripe for deployment across rural U.S. EIR’s approach shortens traditional manufacturing and installation timelines from 16 months to nine, particularly important for areas in desperate need of more services like Kern County.