That expansion of care services include the addition of an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Andrew Odland, and a physician’s assistant, Ben Becker, PA-C.

Dr. Emile Li, an orthopedic surgeon and partner in the clinic, is glad to have them onboard and also happy that both are from the area.

“We had an opportunity to hire an orthopedic surgeon that grew up in Clarion,” Li said.

Becker grew up in Fort Dodge. Both decided to return to the community to be close to family.

The additional staff is needed. UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center closed its orthopedic clinic earlier in 2018.

“There is a measurable increase in patients,” Li said. “We are happy to have the additions to help us handle the increase.”

Steve Simonin, president and CEO of Iowa Specialty Hospitals & Clinics, said he’s also seeing an increase in the need for prevention and wellness services.

Li and Simonin said that many businesses have reached out to the clinic to provide on-site services to their employees. One major Fort Dodge employer has a nurse they provide.

Some of that is driven by the low unemployment rate and employers competing for qualified workers. Being able to offer great health care and insurance is an added sell for those seeking workers.

“We work in conjunction with those partners,” Simonin said. “We’re placing nurses and providers in different companies.”

He said it’s not just workplace injuries that are dealt with. General wellness is also stressed.

They also said that they expect to see an increase in OB-GYN services, particularly at the Clarion hospital.

“We had 385 births last year,” Li said. He expects that to increase with the closure of the OB-GYN services in Webster City and the increase in the area’s population as more individuals settle in the area to work at the Prestage Foods plant near Eagle Grove.

Patients from the surrounding area are also commuting to use the hospital’s services. For example, bariatric sleeve surgery is done at the Belmond facility.

“We have people drive up from Des Moines,” Simonin said.

“It’s a very wide geographic,” Li said.

Li said he expects demand to grow in the near future for orthopedic services as an aging population wears out a bit.

“Last year there were about 700,000 full knee replacements nationally,” Li said. “By 2022, it’s estimated that there will be a need for a million a year.”

The hospital group also has a podiatrist on staff — Dr. Phillip Greenfield — as well as something fairly unique, an internal medicine physician in independent practice.

“Dr. Steve Harmer,” Simonin said. “He sees our patients for pre-op and handles our general internal medicine. I can’t think of another internist that not a hospitalist.”

They are both proud of the wide range of services provided by Orthopedic Specialists and Iowa Specialty Hospital.

“It’s a wide diverse group,” he said.

Li also wants on assure his patients and the community that he’s not going to hang up his scalpel anytime soon and that while the new surgeons are part of a long-term succession plan, that’s not going to happen next week.

“I’m not retiring,” Li said. “We hired to respond to the increase in patients.”