UIHC considering new outpatient clinic building, seek third party

University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics is seeking a third-party development team to acquire land, design, plan, construct and own a 65,000-square-feet medical office building in Iowa City. The building — consisting of exam rooms, diagnostic imaging, a pathology lab and a primary care practice — would help increase access to primary medical care and train physcians, as detailed in the university's Request for Qualification (RFQ). UIHC would be the long-term tenant of the facility. The hospital system is open to other construction plans, such as repurposing an existing facility, if a "compelling business case can be structured," the RFQ states. "This outpatient clinic building would increase local access to primary medical care, as well as provide modernized clinic facilities in a community setting to support necessary training and education of future primary care physicians," said UI Hospitals & Clinics in a statement to the CBJ. "Nearly half of physicians trained at UI Health Care go on to practice in Iowa." Definitive plans on preferred location, size, program elements and finishes of the medical office building have not been made at this time. A Request for Proposal (RFP) will be issued when the shortlist of developers submit proposed site information that includes cost and rent information. RFQ submittals are due Dec. 13 and they will be notified of their bid's status Jan. 12.

Make way for the inpatient tower

UI Health Care will begin construction on a $621 million inpatient hospital tower to increase patient capacity in summer 2025. The tower is made possible by a $70 million gift to the University of Iowa from the Richard O. Jacobson Foundation. In preparation of the development, the university is beginning a number of projects on the west side of campus, according to a news report. A new Hawkeye Ramp north of Kinnick Stadium connecting the existing skywalk will offer 900 new parking spaces and be completed in winter 2024. Once completed, Hospital Parking Ramp 1 will be torn down. The Wendell Johnson Speech and Hearing Center will be razed after a larger water tower is built northwest of the outdoor football practice fields in summer 2025. The speech and hearing center will be housed in a new west campus academic building on the South Quad, along with the Health and Human Physiology and the Carver College of Medicine's physical therapy building. Construction begins summer 2023 and will end mid-2025. Renovation is expected to be complete in spring 2023 for the north wing of the Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Building, home of Iowa's Military Science and ROTC program. Construction of a 10,000-square-foot emergency generator facility will be built to accomodate the inpatient tower. “As with any major construction project, we will put a high priority on minimizing the impact for our campus community, patients, and visitors,” Rod Lehnertz, senior vice president for finance and operations at the University of Iowa, said in a statement. “These temporary inconveniences are enabling an exciting campus transformation that will benefit generations to come.”

Other UIHC construction projects

• Aside from the inpatient tower, two major developments on the way are a teaching and research building and ambulatory care building. Second floor renovations at the Medical Laboratories Building and Medical Research Center will cost an estimated $6.6 to $7 million.
• The $525,628,000 North Liberty hospital will create more access for patients requiring complex care. It will accomodate 48 beds, 21 emergency care rooms, 16 operating rooms and more. It is expected to open in 2025.
• Construction of the 38,000-square-feet Goschke Family Wrestling Training Center, adjacent to Carver-Hawkeye Arena, began in June. It will have locker rooms, a practice room, strength and conditioning space, training and therapy rooms and wrestling office, as well as a tunnel connecting to the arena. The expected completion date is April 2024.

  

• Vertical expansion of the John Pappajohn Pavilion (JPP), which will add a 24-bed intensive care unit on the ninth floor and a “mechanical penthouse” on the tenth floor to an existing eight-story center, will cost the university up to $95 million. It will be completed by summer 2025.
• A $9.2 million expansion of the State Hygienic Lab will construct a new level 3 biosafety lab by June 2023.
• UIHC will add 13 inpatient beds by renovating level two of the South Wing, with construction beginning in spring 2023. It will also build a $2.3 million opthalmology simulation lab with teaching space and six lab stations.

  

• Expansion of the the UIHC emergency department to meet needs of complex patients and relocate the crisis stabilization unit to be adjacent to the emergency department.
• The university plans to modernize MacLean, Jessup and Macbride Hall, Hardin Library, remove Haskey Hall and renovate the Iowa Memorial Union. It also plans to build a new gymnastics facility and modernize its baseball stadium.