Open house Friday at new Cedar Rapids VA clinic

A new Department of Veterans Affairs satellite clinic has yet to open, but already has patients scheduled into the upcoming months.

Kirt Sickels, spokesman for the Iowa City VA Medical Center, said nearly 7,500 letters were sent to veterans, asking if they would like to transfer to the new Cedar Rapids clinic at 2230 Wiley Blvd. SW.

The 10,000-square-foot clinic will celebrate an open house from 2-6 p.m. Friday and will open for patients on Monday.

Open house

Open house

The open house for the new Cedar Rapids Veterans Affairs satellite clinic, 2230 Wiley Blvd. SW, will be 2-6 p.m. Friday. The event includes refreshments, a ribbon cutting at 2 p.m. and clinic tours.

Sickels said he was unsure how many of the veterans in Benton, Buchanan, Cedar, Delaware, Jones, Iowa, Linn and Tama counties had transferred to the new site, but noted appointments were already made into the next couple of months.

The new site will allow the VA to provide primary care and mental health services through an outpatient clinic.

At the site of the former St. Luke's Physicians and Clinics Westside Family Medicine and Urgent Care facility, the clinic is the sixth satellite for the Iowa City VA Medical Center, which handles about 42,000 patient visits per year.

Officials noted it could help with space challenges at the Iowa City VA Medical Center.

Staff and patients will move from the crowded Iowa City site to a modern outpatient setting.

“We have outgrown our current needs in the outpatient areas at the hospital and this gives us a wonderful opportunity,” said Barry Sharp, medical center director.

The Iowa City VA Medical Center will open three more outpatient clinics to expand access to veterans. Those sites will be in Decorah and Ottumwa and the Sterling/Rock Falls area in Illinois.