No patient data affected in Wednesday fire at UnityPoint Health building

Fire has ’minimal impact’ on health system’s local operations

Apr. 8, 2021 6:36 pm

Cedar Rapids firefighters respond to a structure fire on Edgewood Road NE near Glass Road NE in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, April 7, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

A fire that destroyed an administrative support office used by UnityPoint Health in Cedar Rapids will have “minimal impact” on the health system’s operations, officials said Thursday.

Fire departments responded Wednesday to the blaze at the two-story building at 3851 River Ridge Dr. NE, near Glass Road and Edgewood Road NE. The automatic fire alarm went off at 6:07 p.m. and the crew found half of the top floor engulfed in flames, officials said.

The health system’s servers were not in the building. Officials emphasized no patient data or medical records were affected by the fire.

The Cedar Rapids Fire Department indicates the building is a total loss, UnityPoint Health officials said.

No injuries were reported. Only two employees were in the building at the time of the fire, and were able to escape.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, fire officials said.

The commercial building was leased by UnityPoint Health System Services, and housed employees from Information Technology and administration support, said UnityPoint Health-Cedar Rapids spokeswoman Sarah Corizzo. It also was used as an IT call center to provide computer support to system employees.

The building was mostly vacant because most employees had been working from home since March 2020. Before the pandemic, there would have been about 150 UnityPoint Health employees working in the building, Corizzo said.

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