Eastern Iowa Health Center opens new walk-in clinic

CEDAR RAPIDS — Starting next Monday, Eastern Iowa Health Center’s pharmacy will begin serving an additional population: patients from the organization’s new walk-in clinic.

The walk-in clinic, located in the same building as the pharmacy at 400 12th St. SE in Cedar Rapids, will give new and existing EIHC patients the option to be seen promptly for minor illnesses and injuries, such as sore throats, fevers and muscle strains.

“Generally, if it's something that you would be going to your primary care provider for a same-day sick visit, we can handle that,” said Angelique Andrews, chief medical officer at EIHC.

Because the walk-in clinic and the pharmacy share a building, patients will be able to see a provider and pick up the medications prescribed during their visit in the same place. Andrews said prescriptions usually are ready around 20 minutes after a patient’s visit at an EIHC clinic ends.

Although EIHC’s family medicine already offers same-day appointments, Andrews said the number of patients using those services highlighted the need for additional options. Dawn Baughman, chief clinical officer at EIHC, said the family medicine clinic currently serves 20 walk-in patients daily.

“We see a lot of patients because we don't want to turn our patients away,” Andrews said. “But we wanted to be able to have a way where we weren't impacting our patients with appointments.”

The walk-in clinic will serve new and established patients from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.

While free transportation is available for some of EIHC’s services, it will not be offered for the walk-in clinic because it requires advance scheduling.

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The number of patients the walk-in clinic sees likely will vary based on the season, but Joe Lock, president and CEO of EIHC, said he anticipates providers will see 20 or more patients daily.

“It wouldn’t surprise me, within the first month, if we saw up to 40 patients a day,” Lock said.

EIHC’s pharmacy has only been open for three months, but with the success it’s seen, “there will be things to come,” Lock said. Extended hours for the pharmacy and walk-in clinic as well as a prescription delivery service could be implemented in the future as patient volume continues to increase.

EIHC is a federally qualified health center, meaning it serves all patients regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay.

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