MUSCATINE, Iowa–“Breaking ground today will ensure quality healthcare for another 50 years or more,” stated Rich Dwyer, senior vice president of corporate affairs and enterprise risk management for KENT Corporation and chair of the Community Foundation of Greater Muscatine Board of Directors. On June 14, community leaders and supporters of the Mulberry health clinic project gathered on the campus of UnityPoint Health–Trinity Muscatine Hospital to mark the start of work on the new facility. The new building will eventually replace the clinic built in 1975 and help local providers continue to offer the best possible care in a building designed with the community’s needs in mind. The Muscatine Health Support Foundation constructed the original clinic and rented the space in it to local providers, an innovation that few communities had at the time. Since then, the foundation has grown into the Muscatine Health Support Fund, which the Community Foundation oversees today. Each year,  the Community Foundation uses the rent paid from the clinic to give out Muscatine Health Support Fund Grants, which reinvest in local healthcare and address many needs that could otherwise go unmet. With work poised to begin on the new clinic, Community Foundation of Greater Muscatine President Charla Schafer felt excited to repeat history by using donations to construct the $19 million structure. Schafer especially thanked all the donors to the project, including CBI Bank & Trust, the City of Muscatine, Community Bank and Trust, HNI, the Holthues Trust, the Howe Foundation, the Jack and Christine Michaels Charitable Fund, the Jensen Foundation, Jimmy and Danni Kent, KENT Corporation, Muscatine County, MidWestOne Bank, Musco Lighting, the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, the Stanley Consultants Charitable Fund, the Trinity Muscatine Friends, and the UnityPoint Health–Trinity Muscatine Foundation, along with private donors, for their generous support of the highest cost project funded by donations in Muscatine County’s history. “The originating source of this project is you, the donors,” she emphasized.

Leaders from the Community Foundation of Greater Muscatine, UnityPoint Health–Trinity Muscatine, Russell, KENT, and many other donating organizations broke ground for the Mulberry Health Clinic on June 14. Photo by Margaret Hurlbert.

Over the next 18 months or so, Russell Construction, in cooperation with Invision and IMEG, will construct the new 42,000-square-foot, three-story facility, which will include 71 exam rooms and five treatment rooms, and reception areas, administrative and provider offices, and additional parking. This increased space will allow new providers to come to Muscatine, such as more obstetricians and gynecologists, and for providers currently working in off-campus locations, such as cardiology, to potentially move on-site. It will also provide greater privacy for patients and improve their flow through the facility. Connecting directly to UnityPoint Health Trinity Muscatine Hospital will give easy access to additional services even after the old physician clinic gets demolished. The facility’s construction will involve many local trade workers, providing a regional economic boost. With so much positive change coming to the Mulberry Health Clinic, UnityPoint Health–Trinity Muscatine Executive Director Rachel Pohl feels excited about the improvements and confident that local providers will have more opportunities to provide the best care possible. “Our structure may be changing, but as providers, our goal will still be to best serve our patients and community.”