Accura HealthCare of Baxter announces exit

Accura HealthCare of Baxter has announced it will cease operations at the Baxter location effective Nov. 22. Vice President Tom LeNeave said the company worked hard to make the skilled nursing facility successful and is thankful for the community support it received while in Baxter.

“When we took the facility, the building wasn’t performing. For three years we tried to do things including a major renovation of the building, special marketing and showcasing private rooms,” LeNeave said. “There are too many other facilities nearby that people would have to drive past to get to ours and for whatever reason over the three years we have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars and were not able to make the building perform.”

The company is currently working to find new homes close by for people currently using the facility. It has also offered employment to those working in Baxter at one of its other locations, including the two in Newton and one in Marshalltown.

“We’ve loved the community, the community events and we really tried hard to make this facility work so the people in the area could be able to use it to go to,” LeNeave said. “It was a hard decision to pull back.”

A family owned and operated business, Accura HealthCare operates in 14 Iowa counties since starting in 2016. Accura’s nursing facilities and senior living communities provide individualized care for residents and patients to return to higher levels of function. Its intensive medical and rehabilitative services include orthopedic, pulmonary, cardiac, dementia, respite, diabetes and hospice services for short and long-term care needs.

LeNeave said he is in conversations with city officials in Baxter about future uses for the building.

Questions about the closing are directed to LeNeave at the Accura HealthCare Resource Center at 515-963-1125.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com