To meet growth, HealthEast opens new clinics in Eagan, Hugo

Two new HealthEast clinics have opened in Hugo and Eagan to serve growing populations in the outer-ring suburbs.

The Hugo clinic is off County Road 8 in a part of the city known as "new Hugo." It has two family physicians on staff and was built with room to expand.

"We've been looking to build a clinic in Hugo or in the northern area for several years," said Len Kaiser, director of business development for HealthEast clinics. "We finally found the right situation."

Previously, HealthEast's northern-most clinic was in Vadnais Heights.

Hugo, the fastest-growing city in Washington County with 12,417 residents, was a logical choice, Kaiser said.

"It is a community that we wanted to provide services in. It has a lot more potential too," he said.

With the addition of the HealthEast Clinic, the city now has three medical clinics.

"Because of the population growth, there's a growing demand for services, and the marketplace is just starting to figure that out," said Bryan Bear, the city's community development director.

Fairview will bring the city's first in-house pharmacy, City Administrator Mike Ericson said. Until now, Hugo residents had to travel to White Bear Lake or Forest Lake for their pharmacy needs.

The HealthEast Clinic occupies about 5,500 square feet of a one-story building that measures 18,000 square feet.

In Eagan, the new HealthEast Clinic opened last week on Town Centre Drive, just off Yankee Doodle Road, in the city's main retail and commercial district.

The primary care clinic is open, and HealthEast is planning to open a sleep clinic next month in the same location. It would be the health system's second sleep clinic; the other one is in Maplewood.

The new clinic will occupy space in a 30,000-square-foot building owned by MSP Commercial. Before construction of the clinic and a nearby Best Buy, a restaurant and a theater occupied the site, said Eagan's city planner, Mike Ridley.

The HealthEast Clinic in Hugo has scheduled a community open house from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday.