Veterans Memorial Hospital & Clinics to hold public information meeting discussing plans for new Postville Clinic

Veterans Memorial Hospital & Clinics invite any members of the public to attend one of two scheduled public meetings to discuss the plans for the renovation of the new Postville Medical Clinic.  Meetings will be held on Wednesday, October 1, and again on Thursday, October 9, both at 5:30 pm at the Northeast Iowa Wellness and Recreation Center in Postville.  

There are many reasons to establish a new clinic, but the most pressing is the lack of space to accommodate the growing number of patients seeking care each day. Patient load has grown from 2 up to 16 patients per day and the clinic can longer advertise walk-in patients.  

Laura Baxter, Waukon and Postville Clinic Director, states, “Our provider appointment slots are full most every day and we have so much more demand in both family health care and behavioral health care. Fortunately, we do have new providers recruited to begin in Postville, but we have nowhere to put them.  So, we are very anxious to get this project underway.”

The current Postville Medical Clinic is located at 124 W. Greene Street. The proposed new location is right next door, to the west, at the former Upper Explorerland Building.  The new project will have an additional three exam rooms for a total of five, plus a new procedure room and lab area.  There will also be a new behavioral health clinic area for private consultations in a more comfortable, confidential atmosphere.

“The current providers we have at the Postville Medical Clinic will remain, but we will be adding two additional family practitioners and one Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse practitioner, so many days we will have two providers available, instead of just one,” adds Baxter.  “This will allow us to begin to take those walk-in patients once again, plus expand our hours, opening earlier in the morning and remaining open all day without closing for lunch.  This will all allow us to truly provide access to quality health care here at home”

The hospital has already committed $480,000 toward the total project cost of $779,000, demonstrating strong institutional support and investment in the success of this expansion.  Fundraising is currently underway for the new facility, plus they are searching for grants for the remaining balance of the project.

Alex Berns, Nurse Practitioner, is the Family Practice Provider each Monday at the Postville Clinic.  He states, “Updating the clinic shows that we are invested in the community and county long-term.  Myself being born and raised in the Postville community and now practicing here, I want our patients in Postville and the surrounding communities to have exceptional resources and experiences in all of our clinic locations.”

Michael Coyle, CEO, states, “Adding this new space will allow for additional daily appointments, increase the number of providers & specialties, as well as grow additional services we can offer in Postville.   The community has been very welcoming in the three years we have been in Postville and we are excited to grow our service to the community and region.”

The current medical office building will be used for storage and other future expansion.  Again, the community meetings in October are open to the public. For more information, please call Beth Shafer, Growth and Development Coordinator at Veterans Memorial Hospital, at 563-568-3411.