One differentiator in the long-term success of any region is talent attraction and retention. Another is access to great health care.
The Corridor has great health care up and down the region, and if the competitive health care landscape in North Liberty is any indication, it will only continue to get better.
After all, competition typically improves performances by making competitors work harder and improve outcomes.
Mercy Cedar Rapids was one of the first providers to move into North Liberty in 2007. At the time, it was seen as an affront to Mercy Iowa City, but ultimately proved to be a prudent and smart market move. Had Mercy Iowa City been a little more aggressive in covering growing communities like North Liberty, it might well have survived.
And now Mercy Cedar Rapids is proposing a new off-site medical clinic extension in North Liberty to build upon its strong market foundation.
Leaders at the University of Iowa Health Care aren’t making the same mistake as Mercy Hospital Iowa City.
After serving North Liberty for more than 20 years with various clinics, they are moving into North Liberty as aggressively as anyone. They understand that North Liberty is ideally situated in the center of the Corridor and just a couple miles from Interstate 80.
The new $525 million UI Health Care North Liberty campus is a phased development. The first phase involves offering emergency care in the North Liberty community and the relocation of orthopedic care services, which includes sports medicine, spine, total joint replacement and other orthopedic subspecialty services. The ability to provide greater access and convenience for patients at the North Liberty campus will help meet the growing demand for musculoskeletal care. Complex orthopedic care will continue to be supported at the university campus, according to its website.
Steindler Orthopedic Clinic is also aggressively expanding with a $29 million ambulatory surgery center that is being built on a 36-acre land parcel at the intersection of Kansas Avenue and Forevergreen Road, just east of the Forevergreen-Interstate 380 interchange in North Liberty. The overall square footage of the ASC and clinic comes to just under 83,000 square feet.
Not to miss out in this growing medical hub, it was announced in 2023 that North Liberty Family Health Centre was joining UnityPoint Clinic in December 2023, operating under the new name UnityPoint Clinic Family Medicine —North Liberty.
North Liberty used to be a sleepy bedroom community. That is no longer the case. It has become a hotbed for many businesses and industries, specifically health care providers, and it seems to be just the beginning. This bodes well for the future of the region.
