DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Leaders of a Des Moines public hospital are celebrating the opening of a four-story addition that is part of a $60 million plan to rebuild and expand the facility.
Broadlawns Medical Center, which is owned by Polk County taxpayers, has thrived in recent years after nearing financial collapse more than a decade ago, The Des Moines Register (https://dmreg.co/2n21JVO ) reported. Its success partly is because more Iowa residents who used to lack health insurance now have coverage from former President Barack Obama’s health care law.
More than 150,000 poor adults in Iowa have gained Medicaid coverage under the law. Many of those people in the Des Moines area used to rely on free care from Broadlawns.
“You couldn’t have imagined, I don’t think, 10 years ago, where Broadlawns is today,” said Gov. Terry Branstad, who helped cut the ribbon at Thursday’s celebration.
Branstad, a Republican who opposed the health care law, agreed in 2013 to go along with a version of the law’s Medicaid expansion. The federal government picked up most of the tab.
The 72,000-square foot addition is the result of years of planning and examination of what the Des Moines area needs, according to Jody Jenner, Broadlawns CEO.
“Today really represents a major step in closing a lot of health care shortages and gaps in this community,” he said.
The addition will house an expanded dental clinic, outpatient mental-health services, addiction treatment, a pain-treatment clinic and a family-practice clinic.
The building’s dental area has twice as much capacity as the previous facility. It’ll be able to handle more than 20 patients at a time, many poor Iowa residents who often have trouble finding private dentists who will take their Medicaid coverage.
Jenner said the public hospital’s upgraded facilities have helped efforts to recruit new staff members, including psychiatrists, who are in short supply.
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Information from: The Des Moines Register, https://www.desmoinesregister.com
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