Muscatine prepares for new $19M Mulberry Health Clinic

MUSCATINE, Iowa – A new $19 million health care clinic is moving forward in this community. If all goes according to plan, the new Mulberry Health Clinic, 1518 Mulberry Ave., will be open and helping patients around the end of next year. “The one constant in health care is that it is ever changing,” said […]

MUSCATINE, Iowa – A new $19 million health care clinic is moving forward in this community. If all goes according to plan, the new Mulberry Health Clinic, 1518 Mulberry Ave., will be open and helping patients around the end of next year.

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“The one constant in health care is that it is ever changing,” said Rachel Pohl, executive director of UnityPoint Health-Trinity Muscatine, one of the partners in the new health clinic project, during a groundbreaking ceremony for the new clinic Wednesday, June 14, outside the current Mulberry Health Clinic. The ceremony attracted more than 100 people, most of them from the health care field and the business community. The current clinic, built in 1975, will be torn down to make room for the new facility. The current building “has regulatory safety concerns that are being temporarily mitigated,” according to information from the Community Foundation of the Greater Muscatine. That organization will own the new clinic and has headed fundraising efforts to build it. Ms. Pohl said the new clinic will offer more health services and make it possible for more Muscatine residents to stay in the city instead of traveling to other communities to get needed medical help. A new facility will also ensure the continued local presence of quality health care, and will be a state-of-the-art facility that can help recruit and retain health care professionals, said Rich Dwyer, board chairman of the Community Foundation of the Greater Muscatine. “This (clinic) will ensure another 50 years or more of quality health care in Muscatine,” he added. Russell, the contractor for the new medical facility, already has workers on site. They told the QCBJ on Wednesday that demolition of the old clinic could start next week. The new Mulberry clinic is scheduled to be done and operational in 18 months. Once open, the new facility will include:

• Three stories boasting 42,000 square feet of space. (The current clinic has about 30,000 square feet.)

• 71 exam rooms.
• Five treatment rooms.
• Six patient intake rooms.
• 25 provider officers.
• Administrative offices.
• Conference room.
• Diabetic education room.

In addition to outlining the features of the new clinic, business leaders used the Wednesday ceremony to thank the community for its support – and ask for more support. Charla Schafer, president of the Community Foundation, said more than $14 million has been donated so far to the clinic project by individuals, businesses and groups. She praised the collective efforts of the community in helping make the new health clinic a reality after years of planning and fundraising. “Without this collective horsepower, this project would not be possible. … Healing happens here,” she added. Mr. Dwyer added that about $1 million is still needed in the fundraising drive for the clinic. Donations may be made at this site. Money raised to build the health clinic will help the community in more than one way. Jim Russell, company founder of Russell, told the crowd at Wednesday’s ceremony that about half the budget for the health clinic project will go to local trades workers who will, in turn, put the money right back into the community. “That’s exciting for local economic development,” he said. The new Mulberry Health Clinic will be owned by the Community Foundation of the Greater Muscatine, operated by UnityPoint Clinic in partnership with UnityPoint Health-Trinity Muscatine Hospital.