Two things are occurring in Greater Des Moines that have sparked the development of new medical facilities: The area’s population is growing and it is aging.

In June, a local radiologist announced plans to develop a regional medical campus in Urbandale. A week later, Broadlawns Medical Center announced that it will build a Brain and Memory Center on the medical campus as well as another structure that will include primary care. Two medical clinics are under construction in Waukee – a multispecialty clinic by UnityPoint Health and a clinic and surgery center by Iowa Clinic.

“There’s a macro and micro level of what is driving these [medical facility] developments,” said Riley Hogan, a vice president at CBRE Inc., which has offices in West Des Moines. “On a micro level, new housing developments are expanding the population, which means more demand for medical services facilities to serve growing communities.

“When you look at the macro level, you’ve got to pay attention to aging and the baby boomers. The aging population is a contributing factor to the increase for medical services. That group has more physician visits, more needs for long-term care services.”

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau illustrates the growth in the Des Moines area’s population as well as its aging residents.

In 2010, 606,475 people lived in the Des Moines-West Des Moines statistical area; by 2020 the area’s population had grown to 709,466, or by more than 16%.

In 2011, the median age of a Des Moines resident was 32.8; in 2021, it was 35.1. West Des Moines’ population has also aged, but not as fast as in Des Moines. In 2011, the median age of a West Des Moines resident was 37; 10 years later, it was 38.3.

The Des Moines area’s growing population, coupled with longer life spans, has added pressure on health care systems, said Dr. John Tentinger, who is developing the medical campus called Total Health Experience at 9300 Northpark Drive, north of Interstate Highways 35/80 in Urbandale.

“Des Moines, in my opinion, is underserved for medicine, in general,” Tentinger said. “There are extended wait times for imaging services, sometimes making patients wait over two to three weeks for examinations, even for things such as mammograms and breast biopsies.”

Medical campus details

Tentinger, who is president and owner of Innovative Radiology, has been working on developing the medical campus for 10 years.

K&J Properties LLC, managed by Tentinger and his wife, Kara, purchased the 25.3-acre site in fall 2021 from First Assembly of God Church, paying $5.5 million for the property, which is currently being farmed.

The campus will provide preventive and diagnostic services as well as treatment, Tentinger said.

“If I could describe my vision in one sentence, it would be this: The Total Health Experience is an innovative way to deliver cutting-edge health care utilizing the latest technologies and AI with a compassionate, patient-centered experience and a focus on prevention and early diagnosis,” Tentinger said. “We want this to be a patient-centered experience so that patients can optimize their own health and longevity.”

Innovative Radiology will be located in a building in the middle of the campus and will offer state-of-the-art imaging and diagnostic assessments for the campus’s medical providers.

The campus will provide medical care from primary care physicians and medical subspecialties as well as services focused on preventive medicine, wellness and behavioral/mental health, Tentinger said.

“Wellness and prevention is primarily focused on improving sleep, nutrition and exercise,” he said. “There are many new technologies that can help us improve these. We’re working on the programming now.”

Site work at the campus is expected to begin this fall. Construction on one or more of the medical buildings is expected to begin next spring with completion slated for mid-2025, Tentinger said.

When completed, the campus will include up to six buildings and up to 300,000 square feet of space. Development costs are estimated at between $200 million and $250 million.

Broadlawns brain, memory center

Also on the campus will be Broadlawns Brain and Memory Care Center, an expansion of what the Polk County medical provider offers on its campus in Des Moines, Dr. Yogesh Shah, Broadlawns’ chief medical officer and vice president of medical affairs, said.

“The unique part [of the center] is that we will be focusing on prevention of cognitive decline,” Shah said. “Dementia is not a normal part of aging. There’s a lot of good science [that shows] that up to 40% of early-stage memory loss, mild cognitive impairment and early stages of Alzheimer’s type can either be slowed down, reversed or prevented. …

“That’s why Broadlawns is focusing on early detection and prevention.”

The center will be different from brain and memory centers across the country, Shah said. For one thing, the center will work with people caring for those experiencing cognitive decline. Also, the center will focus on providing care for minorities with dementia, he said.

The new center will include an infusion therapy center where drugs that help treat Alzheimer’s disease are administered intravenously, Shah said.
The center will also house services that families need after a dementia diagnosis, including blood testing, brain imaging, hearing tests and sleep studies.

“There is a significant connection between hearing loss, sleep issues and memory loss,” Shah said. “Instead of referring patients to clinics in other parts of Des Moines, we will have those clinics in our building.”

The brain and memory center will also include a dementia simulation house operated by the University of Northern Iowa’s gerontology program, Shah said. “People who care for loved ones with dementia can go through the house and feel and sense what patients with dementia feel and sense. … We are hoping to create awareness of dementia along with creating better care for people suffering with different types of cognitive decline.”

Planning for the center and Broadlawns’ second building on the campus are underway. (The second building is expected to include primary care and services related to behavioral and women’s and men’s health.) 

Broadlawns purchased 8.8 acres from K&J Properties in December 2022, paying $3.4 million for the parcel. Development costs are estimated at $50 million and will be paid with money from Broadlawns’ capital fund and private donations, according to a Broadlawns official.

The brain and memory center is expected to open by late 2025 or early 2026, Shah said. “It will be unique for the state and for the nation. I have not heard of many models that are all-inclusive like this will be.”

Development in Urban Loop

The Total Health Medical campus will be located in what Urbandale calls the Urban Loop.

The area is anchored by a 90-degree bend in I-35/80. Land on both sides of the interstate is described as “prime for development” on the city’s website. Recent improvements, including the addition of an interchange at 100th Street and the Iowa Highway 141 flyover ramp, have made the area even more accessible, city officials said.

“Being in the Urban Loop, you have excellent visibility and I-35/80 access, which provides all that regional connectivity,” said Curtis Brown, the city’s assistant city manager. “We are seeing a lot of high-quality development in that area.”

On the north side of Northpark Drive, across the street from where the medical campus is planned, is John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group. To the east are Lean TECHniques, Pella Corp. and the Iowa Bankers Association, which moved into its new building about two years ago.

“We think the medical campus will attract different users and more traffic to the area,” Brown said. “We would expect to see increased amenities in the area as well.”

The campus will be developed around a small lake that will have walking paths around it and places to sit. The lake area will have numerous trees, shrubs and flowering plants, all of which will also be planted around the buildings and in the parking areas. Other amenities are planned on the campus, including a coffee shop and possibly a restaurant or workout facility.

Tentinger is “taking that extra step of creating a place that is special,” said Aaron DeJong, Urbandale’s economic development director. “Today, placemaking is important, and all the exterior improvements that are planned will make it a place people will want to go to.”

Hogan, of CBRE Inc. said development of the medical campus could prompt the addition of other medical-related facilities in the area.

“There are groups that want to be near medical facilities, so I could see the development of some more medical office buildings,” Hogan said. “There’s professional group services that want to be around these types of facilities as well.”

Whether the Des Moines area will continue seeing an uptick in the development of medical facilities is now known, Hogan said.

“Right now, we are meeting the demand based on what we’re seeing currently in the marketplace,” he said. Once the newly developed space is absorbed in the next two to three years, “we’ll see where the new rooftops are being built and what the demand will be for these types of facilities.”

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Minorities and dementia

From the Alzheimer’s Association:

Older Black people in the U.S. are twice as likely as older Caucasian people to have Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia. In addition, Hispanic people are 1 1/2 times more likely than white people to have Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia.

Both Black and Hispanic people are less likely than white people to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia. When a diagnosis is made, it usually comes in the late stages of the disease when there is more cognitive and physical impairment and the need for more medical care.

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Others involved in medical campus

Project management: Sonar Development

Architect: Simonson + Associates

Landscape architect: Genus

General contractor: DCI Group

Civil engineer: CDA

Environmental engineer: Terracon

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About John Tentinger

John Tentinger’s roots are firmly planted in Urbandale.

Tentinger grew up in the community and is an Urbandale High School graduate. Tentinger and wife Kara have two daughters, both Urbandale graduates, and a son who will be a junior at the school.

“I’m a loyal guy who grew up in Urbandale,” Tentinger said. “I think it’s cool that I can bring this development to the ‘U’ that’s provided so much to me and my family.”

Tentinger, 50, graduated from the University of Iowa’s Carver College of Medicine. He initially planned on becoming a pediatrician but changed course after experiencing a little of what the career would entail.

“If you’re a pediatrician, you’re basically doing wellness checks or you’re treating sick kids,” Tentinger said. “It was difficult to see all the sick kids and it affected me a lot more than I thought it would.”

Tentinger had worked with a radiologist and was fascinated by the work. He did his residency in radiology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

“It’s one of the best decisions I have made,” he said. “I get to work both with physicians from all specialties and get patient interaction through consults and procedures.”

Tentinger owns the radiology group Advanced Medical Imaging, which provides radiology and diagnostic oversight for Broadlawns Medical Center and Pella Regional Medical Center. He also owns and operates Innovative Radiology, which recently acquired Alliance Healthcare in West Des Moines.

Innovative Radiology will be located in the 25.3-acre medical campus Tentinger is developing in Urbandale.