Significant exterior and interior renovations that were just completed were celebrated in July with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Iowa Specialty Hospital leaders billed the event as a grand reopening.

“We look really small, but we provide a whole lot,” Dr. Kenneth Adams, a gastroenterologist, said after cutting the green ribbon.

The clinic at 2700 First Ave. S. offers family medicine, gastroenterology, internal medicine, orthopedics, including spine surgery, pain management, podiatry and weight loss management. The clinic has a laboratory, X-ray facilities and an MRI machine on site.

“We’ve been really proud of the services we’ve been able to provide here,” said Joetta Promes, the clinic leader.

-Messenger file photo
Joetta Promes, clinic leader at the Iowa Specialty Hospital Fort Dodge Clinic, talks about the facility during an event on July 17, 2024, to mark its grand reopening following some renovations. Steve Simonin, chief executive officer of Iowa Specialty Hospital, listens at right.

The staff has 18 providers, including physicians, physicians assistants and advanced registered nurse practitioners. There are an additional 35 employees, including nurses, lab and X-ray technicians and administrative personnel.

An exterior renovation job that gave the front of the building a completely new look was completed in 2023.

Steve Simonin, the chief executive officer of Iowa Specialty Hospital, joked that before the exterior work was done, the front of the clinic looked like that of an auto parts store. Interior renovations were also completed.

Iowa Specialty Hospital has had a clinic in Fort Dodge since 1994, according to Promes. She said the clinic moved to its current site in 2006.