Cedar Rapids Medical District expected to raise bar on health care quality

Advocates say a new Cedar Rapids Medical District will mean better patient outcomes in a city already cited as among the top 10 nationwide for high-quality, low-cost health care.

The Cedar Rapids Healthcare Alliance, a non-profit group that works on health care and patient safety issues through community partnerships, sponsored a forum last night to discuss the district, which was announced in October.

More than 75 invited guests attended the event at the Kirkwood Training and Outreach Services center in Marion.

The district will have related services clustered along 10th Street SE, between St. Luke's Hospital and Mercy Medical Center.

Mayor Ron Corbett said the district should help bring jobs to the city.

One of the forces behind the district is a plan by Physicians' Clinic of Iowa to build a $40 million “medical mall” that will straddle Second Avenue SE, said John Helbling, a Cedar Rapids consultant hired to facilitate planning of the district.

Groundbreaking on that 180,000-square-foot building could be in October, with a goal of opening in late 2012, said PCI's CEO Mike Sundall.

But panel members noted that the concept is not just about buildings.

“The prevention side of this is huge,” said Gary Streit, a Cedar Rapids attorney and longtime volunteer for the American Cancer Society.

Streit said making it easier for area residents to get cancer screenings and other preventive care means better outcomes for the entire community.

Panelists said spending less on health care results in more to spend on parks, cultural activities and other elements that contribute to a better quality of life.

Dr. Jim Levett, president of the Cedar Rapids Healthcare Alliance, who moderated the discussion, along with Mercy CEO Tim Charles and St. Luke's CEO Ted Townsend, represented the city during a conference last month in Orlando by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

Cedar Rapids was cited in a keynote address in front of thousands at the conference as a model for health care delivery.

REPLAY: Live blog from Wednesday night's meeting: