On Thursday, March. 4, the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) approved a short-term sublease agreement on a temporary, dedicated location for a Johnson County Department of Health and Environment COVID-19 vaccination clinic. The county made the sublease agreement with Dimensional Innovations for its former warehouse space located at 15500 W. 108th Street in Lenexa.

Since December 2020, JCDHE has operated COVID-19 vaccination clinics at several of locations including the county’s Sunset Drive Office Building in Olathe, and Johnson County Parks and Recreation District’s (JCPRD) Okun Fieldhouse in Shawnee and the Arts and Heritage Center in Overland Park. The current vaccination sites require daily setup and tear-down. Additionally, they have limitations on days the clinics can be conducted and operating hours each day. 

“We are very thankful to JCPRD for allowing us to use their facilities and partnering with us on running successful clinics during our initial vaccination work,” said Johnson County Board of County Commissioners Chairman Ed Eilert. “Moving forward, a dedicated, centralized and flexible facility is necessary as we ramp up our efforts parallel with an anticipated increase in doses over the next several months.”

Johnson County staff researched available space in county-owned properties, JCPRD properties and other space available for lease within the county. Each property was assessed based on location, accessibility, parking, size and flexibility of space for vaccination operations, cost, condition and availability. The selected property is 63,000 square feet, and the county will sublease approximately 45,000 square feet. The gross monthly rental rate is $32,000. Federal funds will be used to for the expenses related to the use of this facility. 

The property is ready for immediate occupancy beginning March 8, 2021 at which time county staff, working with the City of Lenexa, will make ready the facility for the delivery of vaccinations. JCDHE plans to open the Lenexa building for vaccinations at the end of March and will announce more details on days and hours of operations in the next few weeks.

“As we start to get more doses, we will continue to provide them to our partners, such as health care systems, who are helping us get vaccines to people as quickly and efficiently as possible,” said Dr. Sanmi Areola, director of Johnson County Department of Health and Environment. “However, having a dedicated clinic site that offers more flexibility will play an essential role in getting our county vaccinated, getting us closer to the finish line of the pandemic.”

As reported to the BOCC today, Johnson County as a whole has administered 52,749 first doses and 30,067 second doses. JCDHE has administered 22,102 first doses and 15,357 second doses.