Officials say a new UnityPoint Health – St. Luke’s Hospital emergency room facility in Marion will help address an ever-growing volume of emergency room visits.
At a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for the new emergency room, at 3301 Armar Drive in Marion, hospital president and CEO Michelle Niermann said St. Luke’s currently treats more than 50,000 patients per year at its main hospital emergency room.
“It’s one of the busiest in the state,” Ms. Niermann said. “The work that those teams do is just unbelievable, in terms of the intensity and the pace of the work that they do. But we’re super busy, and this community is growing. We think the best way to allow our team to do even more good work for even more patients is to open this off-campus (emergency room). And what better place to do it in (than) Marion, as a growing community, a place that is always open to this kind of development and where we know we’ll be wholeheartedly supported both by our partners and by patients.”
Marion Mayor Nick AbouAssaly referred to the new emergency room, coming in August 2024 to a building that formerly housed a US Cellular business office, as “a milestone” for a community that now includes more than 43,000 residents.
“This is the next level of service in terms of medical care, and we’re excited to have great community partners work with us and grow with us as we provide these services. People want convenient access to quality health care close to home. We really pride ourselves on providing people with a great quality of life, and that means opportunities and access to everything that they need to be able to meet their goals and enjoy their lives.”
The new St. Luke’s emergency room was announced in February, with a goal of offering fast, efficient, and high-quality care similar to that offered at St. Luke’s main emergency room in downtown Cedar Rapids.
The St. Luke’s Marion ER, totaling 10,000 square feet, will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days per year and will be staffed by board-certified emergency medicine providers from East Central Iowa Acute Care, which currently serves St. Luke’s main campus ER, along with nurses, patient care technicians, and other health care professionals.
Like any hospital emergency department, the new St. Luke’s Marion ER will be equipped to treat patients with illnesses and injuries that require a higher level of care than urgent care clinics offer.
St. Luke’s identified Marion as an ideal location due to its fast-growing population and community expansion projections. The new location will primarily serve residents of Marion, northeast Cedar Rapids and surrounding eastern Linn County communities, providing fast, critical emergency care.
The new Marion ER will feature:
- Full-service emergency care, with services like those offered at St. Luke’s Main Cedar Rapids ER.
- 12 private treatment rooms
- Advanced imaging for diagnostics and testing, including CT, X-ray and ultrasound
- On-site laboratory and pharmacy
- Online ER Check-in and ER Passport
Interior demolition work has already begun for the new emergency room facility. Graham Construction is serving as the project’s general contractor.
