MOVILLE, Iowa — When the doors opened to patients at the new Moville Area Medical Clinic in December, it was hard for Diane Drevs to believe the years of work to build it had come to fruition.
"The first couple days it was like I was in a daze because I couldn't believe it was happening. Once it settled in, I was so excited for our community," said Drevs, Moville Area Medical Clinic president.
CNOS moved in and opened for physical therapy patients on Dec. 16. MercyOne moved its medical clinic from the former Main Street site it shared with CNOS earlier this year.
The $2.9 million, single-story clinic on Frontage Road along U.S. Highway 20 is the culmination of several years of dreaming, planning and fundraising by a group of volunteers from all facets of the community, including the Moville Chamber of Commerce, Moville Community Development Association and the City of Moville.
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Ground was broken in November 2023, construction started in spring 2024 and was completed Dec. 1. It was designed to accommodate construction of a future addition, if needed.
The 6,500-square-foot facility includes family practice, specialists, physical therapy and rehabilitation, plus space for on-site laboratory and radiology services. Drevs said negotiations are ongoing with other health care providers interested in locating in an unfinished area, which will be finished to suit the provider's needs.
The building is leased to CNOS, which operates physical therapy and rehab services. CNOS in turn subleases the medical clinic to MercyOne.
With its location along U.S. 20, the clinic is easily accessible to patients from surrounding communities, and Drevs said she hopes it will attract more patients from the area who may currently drive past Moville on the way to Sioux City.
"It's so convenient for lots of areas," Drevs said.
The clinic's opening marks the second time the Moville community has come together to build a clinic.
In 1994, a group of Moville residents formed a non-profit to address the lack of health care in rural areas. The Moville Area Medical Clinic Committee raised the funds and eventually built the Main Street clinic. A physical therapy and rehabilitation center was added later and has been operated by CNOS for several years.
After MercyOne Siouxland Medical Center partnered with Moville to operate the clinic in 2019, the health care provider said it wanted to move into a larger facility and offer additional services. So the committee once again began raising money for the new health care facility that was ultimately built on the site of the former Motel 20, which the city of Moville had previously bought and demolished.
The largest funding sources for the project include a $1.86 million grant and loan with a zero percent interest rate from the Woodbury County Rural Electric Cooperative and the Department of Rural Development, a $700,000 grant from Missouri River Historic Development, and $250,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding from the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors. Other funding came from private funds and donations.
The fundraising isn't finished. Drevs said the committee is raising $150,000 for a new radiology machine to replace the former clinic's outdated equipment.
The committee also is seeking a buyer for the former clinic building.
