Community invited to informational meetings discussing plans for new Postville Clinic

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

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.

Hospital and Clinic officials state 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 no longer advertise walk-in patients. 

“As a Family Nurse Practitioner working in Postville, I see every day how much this community values and needs quality healthcare. While our current clinic has served us well, it simply isn’t meeting the needs of our growing and diverse patient population. Space is limited, and we often have to work around the building’s constraints to provide even basic services. These challenges make it harder to expand programs, add new providers, or offer additional resources that our patients need,” explains Minji Ranson, Nurse Practitioner. “Postville is such a unique and welcoming community, home to people from many cultural and linguistic backgrounds. A new clinic would give us the space to better support interpreter services, preventative health programs, and community partnerships - all of which improve care and strengthen trust.  I love working here because the people are resilient, warm, and deeply appreciative of the care they receive. A new clinic wouldn’t just be a building - it would be an investment in the health and future of Postville, ensuring that every person who walks through our doors receives the best care possible.”

The current providers at the Postville Medical Clinic will remain, but with this additional space, two additional family practitioners and one Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse practitioner will be added to the care team, so many days two providers will be available, instead of just one. This will allow for walk-in patients once again, plus expand the clinic hours, opening earlier in the morning and remaining open all day without closing for lunch.

“I was working at the hospital in the Podiatry Clinic, but wanted to come here when I had the opportunity since I live in Postville.  I just really felt like I wanted to be here to care for the people in my town. You feel like you have a connection to everyone to begin with and I know them,” states Selina Perez, Postville Medical Clinic Medical Assistant. “Our patients are excited to see you and they are always thanking you for caring for them. I have made some great friendships. This is a great hospital and team environment.”

Selina adds, “We need a new clinic! We have no room here. We are so busy and we could really use more room. It’s not good when we can’t get people in and they are waiting for our rooms to open up.  That makes our patients wait too long.  We have new providers coming and we don’t have any work space for them. We are very tight and with more room we could care for so many more people than we can now.”

Fundraising is currently underway for the new facility, plus they are searching for grants for the remaining balance of the project. 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.

Anyone is welcome to attend these community meetings October 1 and 9 to learn more about the need for the Postville Medical Clinic expansion. For more information, call Beth Shafer, Growth and Development Coordinator at Veterans Memorial Hospital, at 563-568-3411.