by Mari Radtke
Gary Jordan, Cherokee Regional Medical Center CEO spoke Monday December 15 at Primghar Community Building. He was accompanied by CFO Tyler Gerstandt, VP Foundation and Auxiliary Kent Lundquist and Merle Mack, VP Compliance. He explained how CRMC, a formerly independent hospital became affiliated with Unity Point. The move was for better storage of and access to patient medical records.
Jordan shared with the audience of about 40 people the many services available at Cherokee. They have a lot of specialists, can do chemotherapy on-site, hold a contract with Cherokee County to provide public health services, own an ambulance service and retail pharmacies. They also have a management contract with Heartland Care Center in Marcus. Jordan made a point to emphasize the local control CRMC has in Cherokee. The actions the medical center takes are decided locally. A year ago, it was a local decision to purchase the Sutherland Clinic. They were approached by MercyOne in Sioux City about acquiring Primghar.
The clinic will remain MercyOne through December 26, 2025. It will reopen December 27 as Cherokee Regional Medical Center, Primghar. This is the 6th clinic of CRMC. Other clinics are in Cherokee, Holstein, Aurelia, Marcus and Sutherland. For clarification, Jordan noted that the practice purchase in in place. They two parties are still working on the real estate sale. The hospital property is not part of the purchase.
About the business, Jordan noted that if Primghar wants a clinic, Primghar needs to support its clinic. The current data supports hiring a single provider. He proudly shared that the have hired a staff of 4 including existing providers. They are currently in discussions with Dr. Pomerenke. He serves as the medical director for Primghar Ambulance. Jordan notes that CRMC works well with all of the area ambulance services.
Financially, Jordan shared that the Sutherland Clinic is still not getting paid by Medicare. The delay is due to the change in ownership. Administrators failed to change form Baum Harmon to MercyOne. And the process of certification for a name change is often cumbersome and slow.
On a high point, Jordan shared some goals of CRMC in Primghar. Among them, bringing Dunes pain management services is on the list. They hope to bring physical therapy services. Once again, administrative functions are a factor.
Jordan cautioned that the clinic is a 1980s building. It will take a lot of money to bring it into modern function. Architechts have already been brought in. CRMC has planned to spend approximately a half million dollars in the first year. “If the clinic is supported we will add services and staff.”
Questions asked included OB services, to which that is unlikely after 20 weeks. An exercise room could be designed and most likely part of a physical therapy area. Xray services were asked about. The response was that the goal was for 2026. They already know that to bring in an Xray machine, structural changes are required.
Jordan minced no words when asked if CRMC would consider long term care returning. It would not be done by CRMC. He also does not see a hospital in a community the size of Primghar. “The Big Beautiful Bill hit hard,” he said.
While 24-hour or urgent care most likely is not feasible, he said a day with extended hours such as early morning or later evening or Saturday mornings can be considered.
He als assured the crowd that patients are free to use any hospital they choose, although they hope for CRMC. Clinics lose money, he explained. They make their money at the hospitals. He said they are hoping the Primghar Clinic will at least break even.
Jordan explained how fortunate they feel to have the number of specialists available that they do. He said that the demand is so high and the number of licensed practitioners is so low that doctors really do not have to travel. They will be able to do quick turnaround lab work out of Cherokee with the exception of a few very specialized tests. There is online access to results and records.
Jordan explained that they did not purchase the patient medical records. If a patient wants to come to CRMC in Primghar, there is some required paperwork to transfer those records.
Jordan assured the group that they do support the communities they serve with focus on food insecurity, obesity, smoking cessation. They have a process to decide on their donations requests.