The Community Health Association of Spokane (CHAS), a nonprofit provider of medical and dental care to low-income residents here, has agreed to buy the former Saturn of Spokane dealership property at 1007 W. Second.


Peg Hopkins, CHASs CEO, says the association hopes to complete the purchase soon and to move its downtown medical and dental clinic to the new location by next April 1, after extensive remodeling has been completed.


That clinic, which sees about 1,800 patients a month, currently leases 8,000 square feet of floor space at 328 W. Sprague, across the street from the Intermodal Transportation Facility. The former car dealership building that the clinic will occupy has about 12,000 square feet of space and is adjoined by a large parking lot.


We just needed more space, Hopkins says, adding that the downtown clinic has no off-street parking for patients at its current location.


She declines to say how much CHAS has agreed to pay for the auto dealership property or how much it expects to spend on renovations, but says Northwest Architectural Co., of Spokane, is doing the design work.


The new facility will be called the Denny Murphy Clinic, in recognition of Denice Denny Murphy, one of the associations founding members, who died of cancer about a year ago, Hopkins says.


Were real excited, she says. Its going to be a big improvement for patients, and a delightful way to honor Denny.


CHAS last year bought the 22,000-square-foot, former Group Health Cooperative clinic at 3919 N. Maple and opened a clinic there. It also operates clinics in the Northeast Community Center, at 4001 N. Cook, and in the Spokane Valley, at 9227 E. Main.


The organization employs a total of about 160 people and expects to handle about 90,000 medical and dental visits next year, Hopkins says. Although the recent sluggish economy no doubt has contributed to escalating demand, CHAS has seen more patients every month than we have the month before since we opened in 1996, she says. About 17 percent of CHASs patients are homeless, she says.


The former Saturn dealership property on Second Avenue has been occupied partly for the last several months by Land Rover Spokane, which displayed some of its new vehicles there to test market response to a possible move from Liberty Lake.


Manuel Ormaechea, that dealerships general manager, disclosed earlier this month that the dealerships owner now is negotiating to acquire an undisclosed downtown site, and that the dealership expects shortly to begin vacating the temporary sales lot on Second.


That property had become vacant earlier this year when Barton Auto Dealerships Inc., of Spokane, moved the Saturn dealership across the street into a larger building at 1002 W. Second.