About Us

Corporate history and growth:

Mid-Illinois Medical Care Associates, LLC, (MIMCA) has been devoted to serving the community’s healthcare needs since the year 2000 when the physician group was formed. Drs. Dust, Runde, Merkel and Bishop were the original founding physicians of Mid-Illinois Medical Care Associates. Several of the founding physicians continue to be part of our physician group. Since 2000, Mid-Illinois Medical has expanded to six current physician partners: Drs. Eric Bloemer,  Sean Flynn, Andrew Gage, Michelle Braddy, Kelsey Hopkins and Philip Siefken and 2 Affiliates Cowden Clinic & Effingham PromptCare. All of our physician partners are Board Certified in their specialty. 

Our 25 providers currently serve Effingham, Jasper, Shelby,Coles and Bond counties. The medical group employs over 100 health care professionals and support staff, including 16 Nurse Practitioners. Mid-Illinois Medical Care Associates is currently comprised of seven clinics located in Effingham, Teutopolis, Cowden, Dieterich, Greenville and Mattoon. Five of our seven medical practices are certified Rural Health Clinics.We also have 2 affiliate clinics located in Cowden, & Effingham, IL & we have 1 office in Louisville, Il and 1 in Mattoon that we support services out of. 

Mid-Illinois Medical Care Associates has a Central Business Office located in Effingham, IL. The Central Business Office is staffed with a total of 10 employees. Chelsey Beavers is the new Practice manager. Chelsey has oversight of administrative & operations for our multi-clinic organization. She currently lives in Newton, IL with her wonderful husband, Jake and they have two beautiful boys. She brings with her extensive experience in Information Technologies and Operations. She wanted to join our company because we are in alignment with her goals and aspirations as a manager. She looks forward to builiding a great partnership with the doctors, clinics, & teams. She graduated with her bachelors degree in 2018 and is currently persuing her Masters Degree in talent development at Eastern Illinois University. In Chelsey’s free time she enjoys spending time with her family as much as possible. Partnering with Chelsey is our Internal Systems Manager Crystal Douthit. Crystal has been with MIMCA for nearly 10 years. She graduated from Eastern Illinois University with her Bachelor’s Degree & is experienced in all operational functions of health care delivery systems. Crystal is responsible for oversight of all internal systems for our multi-clinic organization. Along with maintaining new business contracting, generating advertising & marketing, and administring the web development.

Mid-Illinois Medical Care’s billing department has received the “99 % Club” award from Trizetto in St. Louis. This is awarded to those practices that bill with less than 1% error rate consistently.

Runde Clinic is located in Teutopolis, IL. Dr Bloemer & his APRN’s provide services at the clinic and are all board certified family practitioners. Drs. Runde & Merkel were the original physicians at Runde Clinic, they have both recently retired in 2020. Dr. Bloemer returned to Effingham County in 2012 to begin practicing at Runde Clinic.  Runde Clinic is still accepting patients to be seen by the existing providers at the clinic. 

The clinic was renovated and expanded in 2013 to include laboratory services, x-ray and ultrasound. Kremer Pharmacy was part of the expansion and includes a drive-up pharmacy located on the north side of Runde Clinic.

All of Runde Clinic’s providers are highly regarded in their community and have been recipients of many awards and recognition’s in the area. Dr. Runde was the recipient of the “Rural Health Physician of Excellence” award in 2005 by the Illinois Rural Health Association. He has also been voted “Favorite Family Physician” numerous times through the annual Effingham Daily News – People’s Choice Awards. Dr. Merkel was awarded the “Gift of Hope”, an award which recognizes those who compassionately facilitate organ donations. He was nominated by a patient’s family. Dr. Bloemer was awarded the “Arnold Gold Foundation Humanism in Medicine” at St. Louis University School of Medicine in 2008. 

Drs. Flynn and Gage’s Office is located on Maple Street adjacent to St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital in Effingham. The clinic provides on-site laboratory services. Dr. Flynn is a board certified family practitioner. He was the President of the Effingham County Primary Care Providers Association for many years and is currently the Medical Director of  Effingham Rehabilitaion, & Newton Care Center. Dr. Flynn serves on the Board of the Effingham County Health Department and was also voted “Favorite Family Physician” in the 2015 by the Effingham Daily News – People’s Choice Awards.

Dr. Andrew Gage is a family practitioner who joined Mid-Illinois Medical Care in 2013. He currently practices at two locations: the Maple Street location in Effingham as well as in Mattoon, IL. Dr. Gage is the Medical Director of Hilltop Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Charleston, IL and Arcola Health Care Center in Arcola, IL.

Dieterich Community Medical Center is the office of Dr. Michelle Braddy who is a board certified family practitioner and is located in Dieterich, IL. She trained in Spokane, Washington for her Obstetric Fellowship. Dr. Braddy joined Mid-Illinois Medical Care in 2008 and has a special interest in Women’s Health and Obstetrics. For patient convenience, she sees patients in Effingham at Drs. Flynn and Gage’s office one morning a week. Dieterich Community Medical Center provides laboratory services. Besides family practice and obstetrics, Dr. Braddy offers laser procedures for hair removal, spider veins, skin discoloration, toe and fingernail fungus, and mole or wart removal. She performs aesthetic procedures such as Botox injections, cosmetic fillers for nasolabial folds, facial peels and micro-dermabrasions.

In 2017, Dieterich Community Medical Center was expanded to include a telepharmacy that includes a drive up window for patient convenience. 

Mid-Illinois Quick Care is a rural health urgent care facility in Newton, IL. The clinic opened in March of 2019 and is operated under the supervision of Dr Eric Bloemer and his staff of highly trained family nurse practitioners. It is open 7 days a week with no appointments needed, to provide patients with a more accessible and affordable alternative to the emergency room. They take pride in providing quality care for patients 3 months of age an older when they need to be seen quickly, but want to avoid the codes associated with hospital visits. Patients can receive a variety of testing and treatments for a number of acute illnesses an injuries, immunizations, lab draws, and physicals. Diagnostic imaging is also available for patients needed x-rays or ultrasounds.

All of Mid-Illinois Medical Care’s offices are accepting new patients. For appointments, please contact the clinics directly. The new patient application can also be located on our website under the patients tab applications & forms. 

Rural Health Physician of Excellence Award
Dr. Runde (2005)

Effingham Daily News “Peoples’ Choice” Award
Dr. Runde (2005)
Dr. Flynn (2016)

Gift of Hope Award
Dr. Merkel (2013)

Arnold Gold Foundation Humanism in Medicine Award
Dr. Bloemer (2008)

Dr Dust was one of the founding fathers of Mid-Illinois Medical Care Associates back in 2000. He prided himself on his love of research not only medical, but  he enjoyed a wide variety of many other fields of interest. He was very passionate about his career and specialized in comprehensive adult care & took special interest in Geriatrics, Diabetes Management, and Hypertension .  He was an exceptional physician with decades of experience and served as President of MIMCA since 2000.  

Dr Dust was most comfortable spending time outdoors, hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, spending time with family, & friends. He lived his life to the fullest, by appreciating all that the earth had to offer. He took great passion in entomology, & loved to share his knowledge with others. 

His passion for attention to details, and his extreme thoughtfulness made him not only an unforgettable healthcare provider, but also great mentor, friend, coworker, & member of the community. 

He will be missed tremendously, but his spirit will live on. 

Biography:
Dr. Eugene Dust is board certified in Internal Medicine. He has been in private practice for many years. Dr. Dust graduated from the University of Illinois College of Medicine – Chicago and completed his Internal Medicine internship at the Genessee Hospital in Rochester, New York. Dr. Dust’s Internal Medicine residency was completed at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky.

Certification & Affiliations:
American Board of Internal Medicine
American Medical Association & American Medical Political Action Committee
Illinois State Medical Society & Illinois State Medical Society Political Action Committee
American College of Physicians 
St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital, Effingham, IL. – Medical Staff

Education:
1970 – 1973 – B.S. – Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL 
1973 – 1977 – M.D. – University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, IL 
1977 – 1978 – Internship – Internal Medicine – Genessee Hospital, Rochester, N.Y. 
1978 – 1980 – Residency – Internal Medicine – University of Kentucky Medical Center, Lexington, KY.