In August, with a bit of fanfare that included a visit from U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-1, the nonprofit, community health clinic HealthPoint held an open house officially launching its new location at 10808 N.E. 145th St., Bothell.

Formerly known as Community Health Centers of King County, the group had moved its local location from a spot on Bothell Way in Kenmore.

Now, thanks mostly to a $6.8 million grant from King County, the area HealthPoint office is looking to move again.

In announcing the grant, HealthPoint Chief Executive Officer Thomas Trompeter said, “This grant is extremely important to providing health-care access to the people of Bothell. The relocation and expansion of this health center will have an immediate positive impact on the under served people in the area. In 2010, 43 percent of patients seen at the current Bothell clinic were uninsured.”

The proposed new location, to be part of HealthPoint’s network of 12 medical and dental clinics, is at 10414 Beardslee Boulevard in Bothell.

“We have owned the property for years,” said HealthPoint Marketing and Communications Director Diana Olsen. “We just haven’t had the money to develop it.”

Olsen said while there are many questions still unanswered in connection with the project, HealthPoint officials are hoping to have a new facility constructed from the ground up by October 2012. She added an existing building on the Beardslee property likely will be demolished.

According to a press release, HealthPoint already has awarded an architectural contract to Miller Hayashi Architects. Olsen said preliminary plans call for 16 medical exam rooms and eight dental chairs.

“It’s pretty exciting… A lot is still up in the air,” Olsen added. “All we know for sure is we are moving forward.”

HealthPoint may need to some further fund-raising to make the new clinic happen. Olsen said the grant will cover construction costs, but not necessarily other expenses connected with opening a new health facility.

The Bothell HealthPoint shares its current space with a King County health clinic. Olsen said the plan was to stay at that location for as long as was needed.

“We really didn’t think the money would come through so quickly,” she added regarding the grant that will allow HealthPoint to move to a permanent home.

With the awarding of the grant, HealthPoint became the first recipient in King County of funds provided by the 2010 Affordable Care Act. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius commented, “The timing could not be more critical. The economic downturn has made it difficult for millions of people to get preventive care to stay healthy.”

The grant is part of $11 billion included in the health-care reform package that Congress approved this year to expand clinics over a five-year period. The money is intended to ensure access to care for the millions expected to gain insurance coverage starting in 2014 via the federal health-care bill. Under terms of the grant, the health centers must finish the expansions and renovations within two years.

In the state of Washington, an estimated 900,000 people lack health-insurance coverage.

With 12 King County clinics, HealthPoint acts as what Olsen called a health safety net for the community. Overall, HealthPoint provided more than 205,000 medical visits for more than 60,000 patients in 2009.

Locally, the Bothell clinic serves about 6,000 low-income and uninsured patients from the Bothell and Kenmore areas annually.