BURGESS HISTORY

Burgess Health Center is a rural acute care hospital that is accredited by the State of Iowa.
The hospital opened July 15, 1963, with generous community support and federal Hill-Burton funds.
The naming donation came from a local attorney, A.W. Burgess.

In 1967, ten private rooms were added to the original 19 semi-private rooms. Remodeling began again in 1987 when the OB department converted a delivery room to a birthing room. This was again remodeled to the current LDRP (Labor, delivery, recovery, post-partum) suites in the mid - 1990s and the department name was changed to Burgess Family Beginnings.

In 1990 the first major addition to the hospital was completed. The $2.1 million project added new outpatient/emergency areas to help accommodate the ever-growing number of specialty clinics, radiology department and business office space.

A new outpatient physical therapy, home health and communications center was added shortly after that in a new building referred to as the southwest annex. Soon, a new oncology room, laboratory and space for the adjoining medical clinic were built. The mental health department is in a home on 15th Street.

Mental health, physical therapy and home health all have offices in Mapleton, Iowa, and home health also has an office in Decatur, Nebraska.

Beginning in 1997 the hospital expanded its services. It includes primary care clinics in Dunlap and Sloan, Iowa, and Tekamah and Decatur, Nebraska. Burgess operates retail pharmacies in Dunlap and Whiting, Iowa. A physician clinic on the health center grounds is owned by the hospital and rented to Family Medicine Clinic of Onawa. A portion of the health center property is being leased to Dialysis Clinics, Inc. who operate a clinic there.