Occupants to move into health center addition this fall

Construction is continuing on the Jefferson County Health Center addition, and plans are for occupants to move in during August or the first part of September.

In her report to the board of trustees Monday, administrator and CEO Deb Cardin explained workers are adding doors and trim, installing the ceiling grid and painting from west to east.

?Additionally, they are working on expanding the office space for Medical Arts Clinic physicians so that space is torn up and unavailable to the physicians right now,? Cardin said. ?They have been very understanding and patient considering the disruptive noise they must endure and that they have no place to work out of for three weeks.?

The health center officials? goal is for the new parking areas to be done by RAGBRAI?s July 26 overnight stop in Fairfield.

Joneane Parker, vice president of clinical services, said the new north parking lot should be caulked and striped this week, and then the new south parking lot will be caulked and striped.

But, of course, that work all depends on weather, she and Cardin cautioned.

Growth of services provided at the Jefferson County Health Center necessitated the expansion on the north side of the facility, which opened just four years ago in April 2009.

The cost for the addition is about $4.4 million. It will house an expansion of the Medical Arts Clinic, the Southeast Iowa Neurological Associates, American Eyecare Clinic, River Cities Ophthalmology PC and NuCara Pharmacy, including a drive-up window.

The health center board of trustees met the new surgeon and first assistant, Dr. Beth Zielinski and Jim Zielinski, during the meeting Monday.

The Zielinskis are in their seventh week of working at Jefferson County Health Center after being in Mount Pleasant for 14 years.

?We love the staff here,? said Dr. Zielinski. ?They want to learn ? we love to teach, so that?s right down our alley.?

Cardin said the biggest adjustment is getting the staff used to the volume of scopes and general surgery procedures.

?We?re gearing up to have more surgery staff and anesthesia,? she said.

Dr. Zielinski said part of the increase is because local physicians call and ask if they do certain procedures instead of just assuming they don?t and sending patients elsewhere for surgeries.

Jim Zielinski has been a nurse for 40 years and is trained as a first assistant in surgery. He explained a first assistant replaces a second surgeon and can do the things a second surgeon would do, such as sutures, retractions and any other tasks he is comfortable with.

The Zielinskis predicted the health center is going to outgrow its surgical unit ?pretty quick? because of the number of procedures being done there.

The health center?s new trail, which basically follows the perimeter of its 34-acre campus, is nearly finished, and Ginny Hughes, the health center?s community relations manager, plans to make a public announcement when it is complete and open for use.

?It looks really nice,? said trustee Greg Hanshaw, and the other trustees agreed that contractor Bob Brown has done a nice job on the 5- to 6-foot wide graveled trail.

In his report to the board of trustees, chief financial officer Gene Irwin said the health center had another good month in May.

The health center had a net income of $56,309 in May bringing its year-to-date net income to $2.9 million.