Trustees Vote to Terminate Clinic Lease

At their June meeting, the Greene County Medical Center board of trustees voted to give the required one-year termination notice for the lease agreement between the medical center and McFarland Clinic for office space located within the medical center. This vote follows the board’s May 13 approval of a partnership with UnityPoint Clinic.

The UnityPoint Clinic partnership is part of the medical center’s strategic plan to ensure health care providers and coordinated health care services are available in Greene County for decades to come. The partnership decision in May came nearly six weeks after the medical center broke ground on a $22.5 million project that includes a new addition and extensive renovations with an estimated completion date of spring 2016.

After their May decision, the board of trustees directed Chief Executive Officer Carl Behne to work with UnityPoint Clinic to make necessary plans for UnityPoint Clinic to open in Jefferson. Initial discussions and review of space made it clear that having UnityPoint Clinic on the medical center campus will increase efficiencies and improve care coordination of services that are currently available at Greene County Medical Center.

“As Greene County and the surrounding areas grow, it is imperative Greene County Medical Center build a network of health care providers and services that can serve our communities,” said Jim Schleisman, board chair. “UnityPoint Clinic shares the board’s values for providing that high quality care here in our community.”

“Utilizing the medical center space to accommodate the new partnership with UnityPoint Clinic will help better serve the patients and the community,” Behne explained.

“UnityPoint Clinic is well established throughout Iowa and has the resources and depth of providers and services to offer high-quality, community-based care, thereby benefiting all those served by Greene County Medical Center,” said Behne. “Having health care providers (physicians, nurse practitioners, laboratory services, a full host of medical professionals) offering care coordination that allows patients to be cared for close to where they live is key. Such accessibility to health care services is integral to a healthy and growing community such as ours.”

The one-year lease cancellation notice will allow for adequate transition time for UnityPoint Clinic to establish providers in Jefferson, which is currently underway.