DMU’s partnership with Iowa Health System (IHS) will bring its La Clinica de la Esperanza to the DMU Clinic late this summer.
The University has partnered with IHS since 1995 to house the clinic on the south side of Des Moines in a University-owned building. Given the declining condition of the existing building and to provide a better environment for medical care, La Clinica will move to the sixth floor of the DMU Clinic.
La Clinica opened in 1995 to reduce disparities in access to primary care services for Latino immigrants in Polk County. Language, lack of insurance and immigration status were and continue to be frequent barriers to accessing health care for the Latino population. The clinic provides more than 8,000 patients with continuous, comprehensive care in the areas of adult, pediatric and women’s health. Providers offer acute and preventive care for common health issues and chronic diseases on a sliding fee scale. While La Clinica will be physically housed at DMU, it will remain an IHS clinic.
In addition to offering a better medical environment for patients, the partnership will allow the DMU Clinic to upgrade its radiology department to digital radiology, provide student training and patient referral opportunities, and will add fiber optic connectivity to the clinic. IHS and the University are co-funding the renovation of the clinic’s sixth floor.
“This investment in the physical space will result in long-term opportunities for DMU including unique student opportunities and patient referrals for other clinic services,” says DMU President Angela Walker Franklin, Ph.D. “La Clinica’s relocation also fits extremely well with the University’s mission of improving lives in the global community.”
