MercyOne is closing two South Des Moines clinics in June, and the health system is pointing to expected Medicaid cuts—the same cuts US Rep. Zach Nunn voted for—as part of the reason why.
MercyOne announced this week it will close its South Des Moines Family Medicine and Urgent Care locations on June 26, citing rising costs, staffing pressures, and anticipated cuts to Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement—the latest in a string of Iowa clinic closures tied to federal healthcare policy changes.
In a FAQ accompanying the announcement, MercyOne cited “the expected Medicaid cuts” as a factor requiring the “difficult but necessary changes.” The health system said the affected clinics’ patients will be directed to other MercyOne locations in the Des Moines metro area, but the closures mean that residents in that part of the city will now need to travel farther away for primary and urgent care. The nearest MercyOne urgent care locations are located at least a 17-minute drive away—in Indianola or Pleasant Hill.
The South Des Moines closures follow MercyOne’s February shutdown of its Ottumwa family medicine clinic and a reduction in family practice operations at Pella Regional Medical Clinic earlier this year.
Mike Slubowski, CEO of Trinity Health, which owns MercyOne, warned after President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on July 4 that the Medicaid cuts in the legislation would more than double the company’s annual losses to more than $1 billion.
Last year, Todd Patterson, CEO of the Washington County Hospital and Clinics, also sounded the alarm on the legislation’s Medicaid cuts and wrote in an op-ed that they “come with a cost to the health of the community. When coverage is stripped or access is narrowed, patients delay care until it becomes an emergency. Chronic diseases go unmanaged. Mental health crises deepen. Preventable conditions become fatal. The result is not cost savings—it is cost shifting, often to emergency rooms, law enforcement, and social services that are already stretched thin.”
Democratic congressional candidate and state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, who is challenging US Rep. Zach Nunn in Iowa’s 3rd District, called the MercyOne closures a direct consequence of Nunn’s vote for the reconciliation legislation, which included nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts.
“Zach Nunn voted to cut Medicaid, and now health care in our community is further out of reach,” Trone Garriott said in a statement. “Families in Des Moines, Ottumwa, and across Iowa are paying the price for his vote to cut health care funding.”
Nunn told WHO13 in July 2025 that rural hospital closures were a “myth.” Seven months later, the Ottumwa clinic closed. Nunn’s office did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
MercyOne said in the release it will not participate in media interviews, saying its focus is on transitioning patients to other locations. The health system said impacted staff have been offered positions at other MercyOne sites.
