After six months of focusing on transition and “maintaining access” for patients of the former Mercy Hospital in Iowa City it bought for $28 million in January, the University of Iowa is starting to hone a longer-term vision for its new “Medical Center Downtown” that includes the possible relocation of its obstetrics and midwifery, family medicine and sleep disorders services.
“We’re currently looking into roughly eight initial services and programs that may be fit for relocation to the downtown campus,” UI Health Care Vice President for Medical Affairs Denise Jamieson said last week in a public Q&A, reporting “operational leads” for each area have started investigating the feasibility.
Other areas UIHC could move from its main campus near Kinnick Stadium to the former 150-year-old, 194-bed Mercy site downtown include gastrointestinal endoscopy, heart and vascular services, oncology services, custodial care and operating room space.
“We may call upon staff and providers at both campuses to provide more information and insight to aid in the decisions,” Jamieson said.
University of Iowa Health Care Vice President for Medical Affairs Denise Jamieson talks Jan. 24 with a Sister of Mercy after a ceremony to honor the legacy of Mercy Iowa City is held at Zion Lutheran Church in Iowa City. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
As part of its purchase of Mercy through a bankruptcy auction last fall, the university committed to invest another $25 million or more in facility upgrades over five years — and Jamieson said that work is underway after an initial facilities assessment.
“These initial projects include improvements to the roof, the parking structure, and radiology equipment,” she said. “This foundational work must be a priority now, and we know that it will take time and more financial investment.”
Of the about 1,122 employees working at Mercy when it filed for bankruptcy Aug. 7, 2023, about 1,000 transitioned to become UIHC employees, Jamieson said in January. Although the university didn’t commit to match compensation packages of all former Mercy employees making the transition, it did offer employment “to all employees in good standing.”
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“And we were thrilled to welcome most of them to our team,” she said, reporting UIHC also has maintained an “open medical staff model” at its Medical Center Downtown — allowing community physicians formerly affiliated with Mercy, but not with UIHC, to continue operating on the site.
Addressing its long-standing space issues, the university hospitals have increased the downtown campus’ bed capacity to 234 and maintained operation of the site’s emergency room — as its main-campus ER over the years has become increasingly cramped and overwhelmed.
“Right now, the emergency department at the downtown campus is open and providing excellent, high-quality emergency care, and wait times are much lower,” UIHC Department of Emergency Medicine executive officer Andrew Nugent said.
“It’s important that we help patients remember their options so they can make more informed decisions on where to go for emergency care.”
In addition to the Medical Center Downtown ER, the university is adding a new emergency room in North Liberty as part of the $525.6 million hospital campus it’s building there.
And the university is spending $37 million to expand its main campus emergency room — creating a two-story addition on the south side of the department and renovating a portion of the existing ER.
"Increasing access to more timely emergency care requires a multifaceted approach and expanding the university campus’ emergency department is only one piece of the puzzle," Nugent said in a campus update, reporting the ER expansion is about “halfway complete.”
The expansion and renovation project involves the addition of more than a dozen treatment rooms, new triage space and other multifunctional areas. Once complete, the main campus’ ER will have nearly 60 beds — with the addition of 13 and two new triage spaces specifically for pediatric and behavioral emergencies.
That two-phased ER expansion began more than a year ago. With phase I nearly complete, phase II — including expanded pediatric space — will begin this fall.
“Whether a patient is transferred to the emergency department for critical care or they choose to come to university campus first, these additional spaces will increase access to UI Health Care and our ability to accept patients and to render quality care efficiently,” Nugent said.
Addressing its ability to alleviate some of the crowding on the main UIHC campus, Jamieson — in her recent update on the former Mercy site — reported it has seen “positive movement across volumes in the average midnight census, (emergency department) visits, and surgical cases — even with some ups and downs.”
“Our work for the next six months is to see more steady growth so that we can continue to meet the needs of our patients,” Jamieson said. “An overarching part of our longer-term strategy is to increase patient access for Iowans, and I know the downtown campus will be crucial in helping us achieve this.”
In encouraging patient use of the new UIHC downtown campus, Jamieson noted the university has successfully transitioned Mercy onto its Epic electronic medical record provider — a priority and “key to optimize operations and direct patients to receive care where it makes the most sense.”
“Now that Epic has been launched, it gives us the opportunity to truly begin looking for ways to maximize capacity across both the university campus and downtown campuses,” she said.
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“We’re currently looking into roughly eight initial services and programs that may be fit for relocation to the downtown campus,” UI Health Care Vice President for Medical Affairs Denise Jamieson said last week in a public Q&A, reporting “operational leads” for each area have started investigating the feasibility.
Other areas UIHC could move from its main campus near Kinnick Stadium to the former 150-year-old, 194-bed Mercy site downtown include gastrointestinal endoscopy, heart and vascular services, oncology services, custodial care and operating room space.
“We may call upon staff and providers at both campuses to provide more information and insight to aid in the decisions,” Jamieson said.
As part of its purchase of Mercy through a bankruptcy auction last fall, the university committed to invest another $25 million or more in facility upgrades over five years — and Jamieson said that work is underway after an initial facilities assessment.
“These initial projects include improvements to the roof, the parking structure, and radiology equipment,” she said. “This foundational work must be a priority now, and we know that it will take time and more financial investment.”
Of the about 1,122 employees working at Mercy when it filed for bankruptcy Aug. 7, 2023, about 1,000 transitioned to become UIHC employees, Jamieson said in January. Although the university didn’t commit to match compensation packages of all former Mercy employees making the transition, it did offer employment “to all employees in good standing.”
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“And we were thrilled to welcome most of them to our team,” she said, reporting UIHC also has maintained an “open medical staff model” at its Medical Center Downtown — allowing community physicians formerly affiliated with Mercy, but not with UIHC, to continue operating on the site.
Addressing its long-standing space issues, the university hospitals have increased the downtown campus’ bed capacity to 234 and maintained operation of the site’s emergency room — as its main-campus ER over the years has become increasingly cramped and overwhelmed.
“Right now, the emergency department at the downtown campus is open and providing excellent, high-quality emergency care, and wait times are much lower,” UIHC Department of Emergency Medicine executive officer Andrew Nugent said.
“It’s important that we help patients remember their options so they can make more informed decisions on where to go for emergency care.”
ER expansion
In addition to the Medical Center Downtown ER, the university is adding a new emergency room in North Liberty as part of the $525.6 million hospital campus it’s building there.
And the university is spending $37 million to expand its main campus emergency room — creating a two-story addition on the south side of the department and renovating a portion of the existing ER.
"Increasing access to more timely emergency care requires a multifaceted approach and expanding the university campus’ emergency department is only one piece of the puzzle," Nugent said in a campus update, reporting the ER expansion is about “halfway complete.”
The expansion and renovation project involves the addition of more than a dozen treatment rooms, new triage space and other multifunctional areas. Once complete, the main campus’ ER will have nearly 60 beds — with the addition of 13 and two new triage spaces specifically for pediatric and behavioral emergencies.
That two-phased ER expansion began more than a year ago. With phase I nearly complete, phase II — including expanded pediatric space — will begin this fall.
“Whether a patient is transferred to the emergency department for critical care or they choose to come to university campus first, these additional spaces will increase access to UI Health Care and our ability to accept patients and to render quality care efficiently,” Nugent said.
‘More steady growth’
Addressing its ability to alleviate some of the crowding on the main UIHC campus, Jamieson — in her recent update on the former Mercy site — reported it has seen “positive movement across volumes in the average midnight census, (emergency department) visits, and surgical cases — even with some ups and downs.”
“Our work for the next six months is to see more steady growth so that we can continue to meet the needs of our patients,” Jamieson said. “An overarching part of our longer-term strategy is to increase patient access for Iowans, and I know the downtown campus will be crucial in helping us achieve this.”
In encouraging patient use of the new UIHC downtown campus, Jamieson noted the university has successfully transitioned Mercy onto its Epic electronic medical record provider — a priority and “key to optimize operations and direct patients to receive care where it makes the most sense.”
“Now that Epic has been launched, it gives us the opportunity to truly begin looking for ways to maximize capacity across both the university campus and downtown campuses,” she said.
UIHC considers relocating services to former Mercy downtown campus
After six months of focusing on transition and “maintaining access” for patients of the former Mercy Iowa City it bought for $28 million in January, the University of Iowa is starting to hone a longer-term vision for its new Medical Center Downtown that includes possible relocation of its...
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