November 11, 2025: MercyOne Traer Family Medicine opened as the North Tama Medical Clinic in 1976.
A decade after losing the town’s longtime dentist, and a few years removed from losing the town’s once-a-week optometrist, the town of Traer is losing its doctor’s office. The final day will be Dec. 9. The office was down to one advanced registered nurse practitioner.
The announcement from the MercyOne system, which acquired Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo in 2016 and rebranded it and its satellite locations in 2019, came as a shock to all involved. The clinic was built in 1975-76, and served the people’s needs well. The pharmacy across the street is sure to take a huge hit from people not being able to walk over and get their prescriptions.
The sudden death of Dr. Teresa Lowe in her sleep in 2023 left a hole in the community, one that could not be stitched up by a nurse practitioner, doctor, or skilled surgeon.
The nearest MercyOne-affiliated location to Traer is in Reinbeck. There are only two doctor’s offices left in Tama County: a UnityPoint clinic in Toledo and a family medicine practice in Dysart that opened after MercyOne shut its clinic there earlier this year.