Medical facility coming to Keokuk
By Jarod Wells
Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 5:27 p.m.
Read more: Local, State, Health
(Keokuk, Ia.) The unemployment rate in the State of Iowa was 6.7% in September 2009.
Lee County was slightly below that, but still higher than many counties across the state.
But more jobs could soon open up.
KHQA's Jarod Wells has the story on a new medical facility that would provide about 70 jobs.
It was once a nursing home, then a college dormitory. Now the building at 3140 Plank Road in Keokuk will become Dave's Place.
"This is going to become a 57 bed skilled nursing facility for persons with mental illnesses," said Iowa Skilled & Home Services CEO Kathy Gabel.
Iowa Skilled and Home Services is the agency behind the Dave's Place project. Gabel says a facility like this is not only needed in Keokuk and Lee County, but across the whole state of Iowa.
"It's needed in Iowa in general because currently persons who have medical issues and mental illness have difficulty finding placement in Iowa in a typical skilled nursing facility," said Gabel.
The new facility will create almost 70 jobs when it opens. Everything from direct care workers to maintenance staff. The building will need to be brought up to state codes and a complete rehabilitation and renovation will be done.
"We're hopeful, at least I am, that things will start here in the next couple of months. And once things get rolling, again I'm the internal optimist, but I'm thinking 6 months and we should have our doors open," said Gabel.
Gabel has been a nurse for 25 years and says the name Dave's Place came from one of her first patients who would have benefited from a facility like this one.
The cost of bringing the facility up to state codes and all of the rehab work will come to about $3 million.
Kathy Gable has gone to the Keokuk City Council and asked for a tax abatement.
That request was based on the jobs the facility will create and the financial investment into the community.
She is waiting on a response from the council.
