The new UIHC facility will provide greater access to care in an area where many residents must seek primary care outside the community.
Grace Creber
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics on February 14th.
A University of Iowa health care facility specializing in primary care is scheduled to open in southeast Iowa City in 2025.
While the project is in the early stages of development, the planned location of the facility will increase access to healthcare in an area of the city with the fewest primary care options.
“In order to build strong communities and healthy communities, we need to ensure everyone has access to high-quality health care,” Iowa City Mayor Bruce Teague said in a release. “By providing primary care in this currently underserved community, we can positively impact the health of our community for years to come.”
According to UIHC, the university has begun the request for proposals process but has not yet decided on a developer or the exact location of the new facility in the selected area.
“By adding services in southeast Iowa City, we are increasing access to high-quality care and reducing barriers,” UIHC Interim CEO and Chief Nursing Officer Kim Hunter said in a statement.
“There are a lot of people nearby who don’t have the time or the mobility to drive across town,” Bovey said. “With medical clinics on this side of town, you know, a lot of people will be happy to know that medical services are more accessible.”
Due to the lack of available primary care options nearby, some South Side residents must consider weekday availability, child care, transportation and other conflicts before seeking care.
To get to existing medical facilities, some Southside residents may need to cross the highway, which is not ideal for people, Bovey said.
“The only way to cross the highway is by car, bike or on foot, and many of our residents don’t like to walk and they don’t own cars,” Bovey said. “I’m lucky that I have a car. I’m also lucky that the employers I get to work for are generally very cooperative and take time off if I’m unwell. It’s definitely a privilege that not everyone can ask for.”
Another Southeast Iowa City resident, Audra M. King, also voiced support for how the new facility will reduce challenges for residents to access health care.
“I think some physical amenities on this side of town will open a lot of doors for people who have barriers that other people might not have,” Kim said. “By embedding a facility like this in the community, being with people is always able to, you know, cross a river or take a bus or hitchhike or whatever.”
As a parent, Kim said it would also be easier to have a primary care facility nearby if her child needed medical attention.
“While I have a primary care physician, which I’d love to be with, if there were a facility that would make it easier for us to get kids to see a doctor when they’re sick, or, you know, receive their primary care, then still Being able to get all of them to school faster so they can go to school less, that’s what I’m doing,” she said.
King, who works in the UI Carver School of Medicine’s Office of Student Affairs and Programs, added that while the facility’s closer location facilitates travel, it may also make receiving health treatments less intimidating for residents.
“I feel like there’s something on the east side of town where it’s kind of like being on your own turf, like you’re in a neighborhood that you’re comfortable with, and [that] It might make it easier for people to take advantage of these services,” she said.
