MercyOne to close Buffalo Center location

(ABC 6 News) -Impacts of the pandemic, inflation and lower number of clinical and technical staff entering health care, MercyOne announced that a Winnebago County location will close in March.

Officials said its transition our care provider and colleagues from MercyOne Buffalo Center to MercyOne Forest City Family Medicine

The last day MercyOne Buffalo Center will see patients is March 24, and services will be transferred to MercyOne Forest City Family Medicine.

Read the full statement below:

“Health systems across the country are facing financial challenges due to the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, rapid increase in inflation for supplies and services, lower number of clinical and technical staff entering health care, and continuing gaps in payer reimbursement which are lower than the cost to provide care.

As a non-profit health system, MercyOne serves a mission established more than 150 years ago to serve the health care needs of our communities. To ensure we continue to meet the needs of our communities, we must take steps to develop a more sustainable model of health care delivery. This includes working to resize our organization for an even greater focus on delivering high-quality patient care.

Unfortunately, this requires difficult and painful decisions for our organization. As a result, we have made the hard decision to transition our care provider and colleagues from MercyOne Buffalo Center to MercyOne Forest City Family Medicine.

The last day we will see patients in Buffalo Center will be March 24, 2023, and the location will close soon after. We are connecting with patients of the Buffalo Center clinic and inviting them to continue their care at MercyOne Forest City Family Medicine or another MercyOne location most convenient to them.

We are thankful to the community of Buffalo Center for continuing to entrust us with their care. MercyOne remains committed to serving patients across North Iowa.”