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County accepts former clinic building

Facility will be used for outpatient mental health services

— Daily Freeman-Journal photo by Anne Blankenship The former Webster City Medical Clinic building was given to the Board of Supervisors by Van Diest Medical Center with the stipulation that the building be used to house mental health services.

The Hamilton County Board of Supervisors accepted the transfer of property from Van Diest Medical Center Tuesday morning during the board’s regular session.

The former Webster City Medical Clinic, located at 1610 Collins St. in Webster City, was given to the county to be used for mental health services.

“The Van Diest Medical Center Board is offering the property to us without a cost,” said Supervisor Doug Bailey. “It is a transfer agreement that does not have a price.”

Bailey said it was stipulated that the property was to be used primarily to deliver mental health services by creating a mental health campus at the site.

“The building is to be used for mental health services and other health-care related services for the community,” he said.

Bailey said there are “more questions than answers for the project.” Plans will need to be developed in the coming weeks, he said, adding that the county would work with the 11 county mental health region of which Hamilton County is a member, to develop the project.

“We’ll also work closely with the hospital to develop this campus. This will be a new partnership with the hospital for us,” he said.

Services at the new facility will be provided on an outpatient basis.

Bailey said he was looking forward to the challenge of developing the project.

“We appreciate the confidence the hospital has for the county to develop this,” he said.

Drs. Subhash Sahai, Sushma Sahai and Anil Sahai opened the Webster City Medical Clinic in 1983. The clinic building has been vacant since it merged with Van Diest Family Health Clinic in 2017.

Bailey noted that on the entry wall to the clinic was a plaque that states the Webster City Medical Clinic is dedicated “to the service of mankind.”

“It’s our intention to carry the message on that plaque on into the future … it’s just going to be a different use,” he said.

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