With few questions asked, the Iowa Board of Regents granted the University of Iowa permission Wednesday to spend about $70 million more on the new University of Iowa Children's Hospital building.
“I shake in my boots when we’re talking about that kind of money … a million here a million there,” Regent Subhash Subhai, a physician from Webster Grove, said during the regents Wednesday meeting in Cedar Falls. “I’m looking at the good (that will come) out of all this expenses.”
In 2012, the regents approved a nearly $292 million budget for a new Children's Hospital building. A more recent cost estimate — which include higher labor construction costs, additional safety features and new clinical services — sets the new total cost at $360.2 million.
“This is an unprecedented time in terms of the demands for skilled labor,” said UIHC CEO Ken Kates.
UI is paying both premium wages and incentives to keep the project on schedule for opening the building by the end of 2016.
According to UI's proposal, the new cost total includes:
Opening the new facility also will provide additional space for adult services in the main hospital, Kates said. Once the Children's Hospital is operational, for example, the vacated rooms for pediatric patients will be converted into private adult rooms.
The UI Children's Hospital is the only comprehensive children's hospital in Iowa. Its range of services includes the care of general childhood illness, surgery, traumatic injuries, life-threatening and chronic illnesses and developmental disabilities.
Board policy requires the universities to receive design and budget approved from the regents for any project estimated to cost $2 million or more.
http://www.press-citizen.com/story/...k-another-70m-ui-childrens-hospital/71943452/
“I shake in my boots when we’re talking about that kind of money … a million here a million there,” Regent Subhash Subhai, a physician from Webster Grove, said during the regents Wednesday meeting in Cedar Falls. “I’m looking at the good (that will come) out of all this expenses.”
In 2012, the regents approved a nearly $292 million budget for a new Children's Hospital building. A more recent cost estimate — which include higher labor construction costs, additional safety features and new clinical services — sets the new total cost at $360.2 million.
“This is an unprecedented time in terms of the demands for skilled labor,” said UIHC CEO Ken Kates.
UI is paying both premium wages and incentives to keep the project on schedule for opening the building by the end of 2016.
According to UI's proposal, the new cost total includes:
- $13.95 million for safety enhancements, including protecting key mechanical systems, specialized infrastructure to care for patients infected with Ebola or other viruses, and the addition of safe rooms for children with secondary psychiatric diagnoses.
- $16.65 million for clinical program enhancements, including improvements in the Magnetic Resonance Imaging Suite, the addition of Human Brain Research Laboratory and the addition of radiation protective environment in the Pediatric Cancer Center.
- $16.35 million for design enhancements, including connecting building graphics and design elements and increased opportunities for programming on the level 12 rooftop.
- $21.25 million for other building considerations, including precise building systems integration, delays in schedule and premium payments for skilled labor.
Opening the new facility also will provide additional space for adult services in the main hospital, Kates said. Once the Children's Hospital is operational, for example, the vacated rooms for pediatric patients will be converted into private adult rooms.
The UI Children's Hospital is the only comprehensive children's hospital in Iowa. Its range of services includes the care of general childhood illness, surgery, traumatic injuries, life-threatening and chronic illnesses and developmental disabilities.
Board policy requires the universities to receive design and budget approved from the regents for any project estimated to cost $2 million or more.
http://www.press-citizen.com/story/...k-another-70m-ui-childrens-hospital/71943452/
