Iowa Health – Des Moines has reopened walk-in clinics at Hy-Vee Food Stores in Ankeny and West Des Moines. Staffed by Iowa Health nurse practitioners, the Iowa Health Express Care clinics are a partnership between the hospital group and Hy-Vee Inc. The clinics, which originally opened in spring 2007, had been closed for the past year.

CuraQuick Clinics, based in Sioux City, had partnered with Iowa Health and Hy-Vee to operate the clinics, but both locations closed in December 2007 after CuraQuick withdrew from the partnership for financial reasons, said Amy Varcoe, a spokeswoman for Iowa Health – Des Moines.

“When (CuraQuick) dropped out, we thought it was still a good thing for Des Moines to have these clinics,” Varcoe said. The clinics will see patients who are 18 months or older on a first-come, first-served basis for minor illnesses such as allergies, heartburn, colds and coughs.

The clinics are located at 555 S. 51st St., West Des Moines, and 410 N. Ankeny Blvd., Ankeny. They are open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 2:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Iowa Health plans to open additional clinics at Hy-Vee stores statewide, Varcoe said, with the next locations to be in Waterloo and Cedar Rapids. There are no plans for further Express Care clinics in Greater Des Moines at the present time, she said.