See renderings of UnityPoint’s proposed Eyerly Ball Roosevelt Clinic

Sidewalks are blocked off on Pennsylvania Avenue on Des Moines’ upper east side around Unity Point Health.

What’s UnityPoint building?

The Eyerly Ball Roosevelt Clinic at 1319 Pennsylvania Ave.

What’s the plan for the new building?

UnityPoint Health-Eyerly Ball is preparing to centralize mental and behavioral health services in Des Moines into one building.

The Eyerly Ball Roosevelt Clinic will be a 16,800-square-foot, two-story facility near UnityPoint’s campus on Pennsylvania Avenue, a few blocks north of East University Avenue. It would replace Eyerly Ball’s two Des Moines facilities on Center Street in Oakridge and 19th Street in Sherman Hill. The Center Street location will serve as an administrative building, while the 19th Street location will likely be sold, CEO Cynthia Steidl Bishop told the Des Moines Register in December.

The new mental health care facility will house all of Eyerly Ball’s client-facing services and have its own pharmacy — the first time the mental health provider has had an in-house pharmacy, Steidl Bishop said.

The clinic will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Justin Bailey, an architect with INVISION, told the city’s Plan and Zoning Commission.

A surface parking lot to the east and a row of shared parking on the existing campus will serve the site.

When will the work be done?

Though the project’s timeline has changed, UnityPoint spokesperson Karren Bennett said it’s still expected to open in early 2025. Site grading will begin soon, with the foundation to be poured in April.

Construction is slated to wrap up by the end of December.

How much will it cost?

A building permit valued at $7.4 million is currently under review.

Why is it needed?

The move will allow Eyerly Ball to expand its offerings, including mental and behavioral health care services for children. 

Mental health care providers have seen a surge in demand for their services in recent years. The advocacy group NAMI Iowa said that, historically, about 1 in 5 Iowans was affected by a mental health condition each year. After the pandemic arrived in 2020, officials now put those estimates “closer to to one in four.”