Plans to build a new, $2 billion-plus patient care tower and other accompanying upgrades at the University of Iowa Health Care’s main campus are off the table in favor of smaller-scale upgrades to existing facilities, the academic system said Wednesday.
Iowa Health Care had previously described the new patient tower as “critical to our ability to meet the healthcare needs of Iowans for years to come.” Primary construction wasn’t scheduled to begin in earnest until 2028 and targeted a 2032 completion.
The organization is still facing a capacity crunch, noting in Wednesday’s announcement that it turns away 3,000 to 5,000 patient transfers a year “due to space constraints” even as it recorded over 41,000 inpatient admissions, almost 1.7 million clinical visits and over 43,000 major surgeries last fiscal year.
However, “significant financial challenges” facing the healthcare industry at large have limited Iowa Health Care’s ability to “responsibly” deploy capital toward the project. The organization stressed that its finances are stable, but now plans to submit a revised $380 million capital plan to its board later this month.
"The question before us was never whether we would continue investing in access,” Denise Jamieson, M.D., University of Iowa’s vice president for medical affairs and dean of its Carver College of Medicine, said in the announcement. “It was how to do so in a way that is sustainable, responsible and for the greatest benefit to Iowans."
The new proposed approach eschews the new operating rooms and other benefits of a new tower, but will more quickly modernize and expand existing facilities on Iowa Health Care’s university and downtown campuses, according to the announcement. Though still being finalized, the system expects to add about 100 patient beds and the ability to care for 23,000 more patients than it can currently.
“Our new approach allows us to improve access in the pockets where it is needed most, such as intensive care units, and remain financially responsible in a rapidly changing healthcare environment,” Brad Haws, CEO of clinical enterprise, said in the announcement. “We are also leaving room for continued ways to keep care local for Iowans through expanded specialty and cancer care access, better use of telehealth and care coordination across Iowa, while also working to strengthen the rural healthcare workforce.”
The system said much of the preliminary work it had already begun to make way for the new tower is still continuing, such as removing aging infrastructure, including the removal and replacement of a water tower with a new standpipe that has nearly four times the capacity.