Iowa Board of Regents consider early-phase projects that would pave way for UI patient tower

At the Iowa Board of Regents meeting Wednesday, the University of Iowa requested approval of the project description and budget for several early-phase developments that will pave the way for the future patient care tower.

The project’s budgeted $7.25 million is just a fraction of the end-cost for the tower, which university officials estimate at $1.5 billion.

The proposed patient care tower would boost UI Health Care’s capacity to meet rising patient demand by expanding inpatient and surgical space and replacing many semi-private rooms with private ones, according to board documents.

At Wednesday’s meeting, regents discussed the effects rising material costs and changes in Medicaid funding could have on the project.

“We know, with all of the challenges in supply chain and other things, that general escalations of cost in construction and the scale of the project,” said Rod Lehnertz, senior vice president for finance and operations and university architect. “These are of pinpointed interest for us.”

Allocating for equipment cost would bring the project to $2.2 billion, he said, and invited UI Health Care CEO Brad Haws to convey his thoughts on the matter.

“By November, hopefully we’ll know more about what’s happening with the federal funding and those kinds of things, and we’ll have to sit down with this group and have a really honest conversation about the feasibility of the entire project, and whether that still fits within our capital plans and affordability,” Mr. Haws said.

“Changes in Medicare, Medicaid, 340b pricing, all of those have dramatic potential impacts on us, and we’re waiting, daily, to see what the news is out of Washington, and wanting to be very cognizant of those as we plan,” he continued. “I don’t think those would change what we would do with the projects that are being recommended today.”

Regent David Barker mentioned that hospital stock prices dropped following the recent memo from the White House concerning Medicaid. The memo, released Friday, states that the Secretary of Health and Human Services will act to “eliminate waste, fraud and abuse” in Medicaid by ensuring its payment rates do not exceed that of Medicare.

State directed payments have quadrupled over the past four years, the memo asserts, and claimed that states “gamed the system” while under the previous administration.

Regent Kurt Tjaden asked if the $7.25 million project would advance regardless of what might transpire in November.

Mr. Lehnertz responded that it would, since the project is considered an “enabler” that does not involve construction on the actual tower, but focuses on early-phase work like modernizing entrances. The buildings slated for demolition would also be razed regardless, because “the facilities enabling those razings have either been completed or are being completed – so it makes those spaces not necessary,” he said.

The university plans to fund its patient care tower project through patient revenue and Medicaid directed payments, according to an April 2023 post on its website. The project also received a major boost that same year with a $70 million donation from the Richard O. Jacobson Foundation, identified by the university as the largest gift in its 175-year history.

Project description

The patient care tower will be located on the west side of the hospital, requiring an existing parking ramp, water tower and the Wendell Johnson Speech and Hearing Center to be demolished, all part of the “early phase” projects listed in board documents.

Phase 1 would expand and renovate patient, staff and visitor entrances to different pavilions at UI Health Care’s University Campus; create a new alignment and entrance for an existing skywalk; demolish the canopy of the existing main entrance; as well as site and utility work, including the reconfiguration of drive lanes on Hawkeye Wave Way.

Board documents noted that entrances to the campus will need to be modified prior to the construction process, “to enable the permanent closure of the existing main entrance.”

More specifically, the project will relocate the skywalk connecting to the Roy Carver Pavilion and demolish the pavilion’s existing main entrance canopy. Crews will also modify the driveway outside the fountain entrance and build a new interior corridor linking it to the current main entrance and discharge lobby.

Plans include adjusting the drive lanes along the hospital’s main entrance roadway and constructing a new drop-off canopy at the Stead Family Children’s Hospital. During construction, the realigned road will provide access only to Hospital Ramp 2, the Children’s Hospital, and Maternal Health/Labor and Delivery.

Supporting utility work will upgrade sanitary and stormwater systems and reroute electrical lines to existing steam vaults. Additional site work and fencing will prepare the area for these upgrades and the future patient care tower.

Included in the budget are funds allocated to secure warehouse space, which would house construction materials and a full-scale mock-up of the patient care tower.

“The mock-up space is critical to validation of the design as it progresses,” board documents stated.

The university received approval to plan the project in January 2022, with an estimated timeline of fall 2025 to summer 2026.

Iowa Advance Technology Laboratories renovation

The University of Iowa is preparing to renovate and expand its Iowa Advanced Technology Laboratories building to support its growing Computer Science Department, while also addressing long-term infrastructure and flood resilience needs.

At the June 11 meeting, the university sought approval for the project’s schematic design, description and budget.

The $28 million project will make it possible to relocate the UI Computer Science Department, which has outgrown its current location in the aging MacLean Hall, described in board documents as “outdated and poorly configured for the laboratory and pedagogical needs of a modern computer science program.”

“The department is home to several undergraduate majors that have seen significant growth over the past two decades,” board documents stated. Enrollment has climbed 300% since 2006, with about 900 undergraduates now in the program.

Building history

Originally designed by architect Frank Gehry and built in 1992, the building was intended to support equipment-heavy research programs. While many of those research activities remain active, the university says demand for certain types of support space – especially in the west wing – has declined over the past decade, opening the door for reconfiguration.

The west wing, which primarily houses office and lab support areas, is underutilized. UI plans to renovate approximately 10,000 square feet of this space to accommodate instructional space, department offices and meeting rooms for the Computer Science Department. According to university documents, this renovated space would cover about half the department’s needs.

To meet the remaining space needs, UI also proposes completing a long-planned third wing on the west side of the building. Though included in the original 1992 design, the addition was never constructed due to budget constraints. Finishing it now would “provide the balance of instructional laboratory space needed for computer science,” board documents stated.

As part of the project, the university plans to replace outdated HVAC building controls throughout the facility. Board documents noted that the building and planned addition will benefit from extensive flood mitigation upgrades made after the 2008 flood. To avoid a repeat of the 2008 flood damage, the university will ensure that all critical building systems and research equipment are kept off the first floor in both the renovated and new sections of the building.

“Not only would the IATL building project provide a cost-effective solution to meet the department’s space needs, but it would also help it to extend its already-strong partnerships and collaborations with other programs across multiple UI colleges,” board documents stated.

The university’s building renewal fund and temporary investments from the treasurer would fund the project, which has an estimated timeline of fall 2025 to summer 2027. According to board documents, the project would address $4 to $5 million in deferred maintenance.

Cambus maintenance facility expansion

Adding to the list of capital improvement projects is the proposed expansion and renovation of the Cambus maintenance facility, a $23 million project that would accommodate “Fleet Services, Fleet Maintenance, Cambus Maintenance, Cambus Dispatch, renovated offices, vehicle wash, bus storage and electrical updates for potential future facility electric vehicle charging needs,” according to board documents.

The university is seeking approval for the project’s design, budget and description; if approved, the expansion would make way for 12 additional buses and create a permanent home for Fleet Services, which has operated out of a trailer on the expansion site since a tornado in 2006.

The 53-year-old public transportation service was founded by University of Iowa students and facilitates approximately 2.6 million rides a year. Cambus isn’t limited to students, however; the public, faculty and staff with both the university and UI Health Care benefit from the fare-free system, which has earned a top-20 national spot for transit use per person.

Currently, drivers and Cambus staff commute between the West Campus Transportation Center and the Cambus Maintenance Facility for route assignments and bus storage, which “creates service delays and makes responding to service disruptions inefficient,” board documents stated. “The centralization of all CMF operations, which this project would provide, would increase efficiency in the UI transit system.”

The project would address approximately $2 million in deferred maintenance. If approved, funds would be allocated from Fleet services, UI parking and transportation and a Federal Transit Administration grant, with construction estimated at one year starting in fall 2025.

Duane Banks baseball stadium

Rounding out the university’s capital improvement business transactions was a request to approve the schematic design, project description, and budget for the $5.8 million second phase of the Duane Banks baseball stadium, a move aimed at modernizing the facility and enhancing the experience for players, fans and media.

Funded by Athletics Department gifts, the project includes reconstruction of the central seating bowl, demolition and replacement of the press box, and installation of new safety netting. The improvements would also eliminate an estimated $150,000 to $200,000 in deferred maintenance costs, board documents stated.

“This is a gifted project,” Mr. Lehnertz said, adding that the project is set up in target phases that can be fundraised for and funded by generous gifting to the baseball program.

Plans call for demolishing the existing press box and central precast concrete seating bowl located between the stadium’s two main entrances. In their place, the university would construct a new aluminum bleacher system topped by a 1,500-square-foot press box.

The renovation also addresses accessibility – a new ADA-compliant single-user restroom, hydraulic elevator, and elevator machine room would be added at the main concourse level. An ADA-compliant ramp would connect to the existing cross-aisle between the new clubhouse and the first baseline grandstand.

Renovations to the concourse would be limited to the press box and grandstand areas.

“The proposed reconstruction of the press box and central seating bowl to the baseball field is a strategic enhancement designed to support the growing needs of the athletic program, improve media coverage, ensure safety and functionality for game operations, improve ADA seating and site lines, as well as elevate the overall experiences for players, coaches, media and spectators,” board documents stated.

The regents voted to move the project requests to the general board meeting for Thursday.

At the board's June 12 meeting, the patient care tower project and building demolition requests were removed from the consent agenda for a separate vote, with regent JC Risewick recusing himself from voting on the Cambus Maintenance Facility expansion project.

With the exception of regent David Barker, the board approved the university’s request to raze three buildings and proceed with construction for the patient care tower project.