Linn Community Care Opens Larger Center

by Nicole Agee, Anchor/Reporter

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By Nicole Agee

Story Created: Aug 10, 2009 at 5:30 PM CST

Story Updated: Aug 11, 2009 at 10:02 AM CST

CEDAR RAPIDS - It's been a long wait, but Monday, Linn Community Care opened the doors of its new and improved center. The center targets patients who otherwise couldn't afford medical care. The flood wiped out the center's primary site on 8th St. SE. Crews tore that building down in February. For the last 14 months, care givers and patients have had to deal with cramped conditions in a secondary location that didn't fullfill the growing demand for care. Carolyn Davis came to Linn Community Care for her annual check-up. She says the new center is a big improvement from the post-flood location. "[It] was kind of cramped and they didn't have very many spaces and the doctors had to share rooms for their patients. And now, this is 100% better." Davis is one of 2,500 people expected to walk through the door each month. At the location on A Avenue, doctors could only see 1,400 patients a month. The center's CEO says that put a strain on the center, since it provides specialized care. "We're set up to be a medical home for patients and we provide continuity of care, we concentrate a lot on chronic care management," says CEO Tashia Roffey Koebrick. She says a larger building and 22 exam rooms will help meet the growing demand for this kind of care at a lower cost. "We don't want patients showing up in the emergency rooms. It's very, very expensive there. And often times, the reason they're showing up there is for an acute reason or chronic care management." The center, located at 1201 3rd Avenue SE, is also hiring more staff to work with patients, incluing two family doctors, three ob-gyns and a psychologist.

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