Deb Wollam, the executive director of McFarland Clinic in Marshalltown, said the clinic purchased nine acres of land for the 66,000-square-foot building, designed by RMH Architects of Ames.

“Construction will begin no later than May 1,” she said. “It is three levels, three stories.”

Initially eight contractors bid on the project, but it was awarded to Edge Commercial in Grimes.

Wollam said it is a huge investment for McFarland and hopes Marshalltown knows the health care provider is committed to the community and promises to provide service.

“We are very excited that this new building will allow us to provide that,” she said. “It will allow us to provide more efficient care and allow us to grow or improve some of those service lines.”

All of the services McFarland offers at the Main Street and Nicolas Drive locations will be relocated to the new facility, which is slated to open in the fall of 2022.

General Surgeon Alison Wilson said the McFarland Express Clinic in Hy-Vee will remain.

“Our other services which include our family medicine practice, our pediatricians, our physical therapy, optometry, general surgery, podiatry, all of our outreach services will all be at the new facility,” Wilson said. “One of the really exciting parts of the building is we will be able to expand our oncology services.”

Wilson said during the past few years, new federal regulations did not allow McFarland to provide certain chemotherapy infusions. Those will be reintroduced when the clinic opens.

Wollam said McFarland has up to 16 different medical specialties covered, including occupational medicine which was brought back March 11. She said they are focusing on adding another specialty by the time the move into the new building is made.

As the current locations are not built for technology, Wollam said, there will be some advancements made in imaging equipment in the facility. One new technology she is excited to pilot this summer – before the clinic opens – is a new patient check-in process. Wollam said patients will be able to check in online from their phones, tablets or computers. That will reduce the time spent standing in line, she said.

Wilson said it might not be a standard technology, but the building will have a geothermal unit for energy efficiency.

“We are doing as much as we can to be environmentally conscious,” she said.

What will become of the Main Street and Nicolas Drive locations is not known. Wollam said McFarland has leased those buildings since 1994, and the lease expires in 2022.

“Knowing the hospital was also expanding on the south side and us having surgeons, after a year, we determined this new location would be the best place for us to be strategically,” she said.

Wilson hopes someone with vision will acquire the Main Street and Nicolas Drive locations, since they are for sale, and will turn them into something that would benefit Marshalltown.

One concern residents have expressed when learning about the relocation of UnityPoint services to the south side of town, is a lack of north side treatment. Wollam said McFarland officials are aware of that concern and they are working with the City of Marshalltown to understand the busing situation.

“One of the things we expressed when we met with the city council is we felt we were landlocked uptown,” she said. “We did evaluate 11 properties. There was not a location on the north end of town that was large enough. We have enough room now to expand even the 66,000-square-foot building.”

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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.