A pair of state legislative candidates and a community activist held a press conference outside of a closed medical clinic Monday morning, a closure they say is the result of Republican policies.
Kolton Jones, a Democrat candidate for Representative District 25, is a local health care worker who says the shuttering of MercyOne in Ottumwa led to consequences for numerous patients. “This clinic was utilized by many. I’ve seen firsthand the anxiety that this closing has caused. People are concerned about where they’re going to go for their health care services, and this leads to patients having to take longer drives for routine and basic human services.”
MercyOne closed in February, and in January, Pella Regional Medical Clinic in Ottumwa announced it was reducing its family practice operations.
Each of the speakers, including Brenda Case, blamed Republicans for privatizing Medicaid 10 years ago and said the closure and reduction of services were exacerbated by the Big Beautiful Bill passed by Congress last year. The result, Case said, has been higher costs and fewer options. Case, a Democrat candidate for the District 13 seat in the State Senate, said the closure affected her personally.
“This empty clinic was my doctor’s office…People lost their physicians. Many of us don’t know who will be taking care of us now.”
Case added the loss of health care workers has other detriments.
“This affects you and me in multiple ways. Medical professionals are top earners. They pay high taxes. They spend money. They have a positive impact on the local economy. The loss of this business will not contribute taxes, as we had planned for it to do. It is a big, empty building.”
Former educator and local activist Mary Stewart shared a personal story in which she and her husband regularly leave Ottumwa and, in some cases, the state of Iowa to receive care.
If elected, Jones said he wants to work on keeping healthcare workers here locally. “So even if that’s some sort of tuition reimbursement, it’d be interesting to dive into residency programs in rural facilities instead of bigger area hospitals.”
Case said she would like to see Medicaid change. “I think that we should restore Medicaid under government control because when it was done by the people, we had better outcomes.”
Both Jones and Case emphasized that health care is a human right and the U.S. health care system should be similar to that of Europe and Scandinavia, where there is “universal health care.”
