UI $280M cancer care acquisition ‘not a play’ for more patients in Iowa City

IOWA CITY — University of Iowa Health Care’s new $280 million deal to expand its cancer-care reach into Central and Western Iowa is about better serving patients in the midst of a statewide “cancer crisis” and is “not a play to have more and more patients come to us in Iowa City,” UIHC officials told the Board of Regents on Tuesday.

The board unanimously approved a UIHC asset purchase of 43-year-old Des Moines-based “Mission Cancer + Blood” after asking several questions — including if and how the sale might affect the many partnerships Mission has with health care providers statewide, including MercyOne and UnityPoint Health.

“I think it's unclear at this point,” UIHC Clinical Enterprise Chief Executive Officer Bradley Haws told the board, but added, “We believe that UnityPoint and Mercy will view this as accretive and an opportunity to partner with both us and Mission Blood.”

UIHC has a history with both UnityPoint Health and MercyOne, which previously managed the former Mercy Hospital in Iowa City — including around the university’s recent construction of a $525.6 million hospital in North Liberty. MercyOne was among the hospitals and health care providers that opposed the North Liberty project — accusing UIHC of trying to take patients from community providers.

Leaders of Iowa City’s Mercy at the time said the North Liberty project could threaten its livelihood — persuading the State Health Facilities Council, at least initially, to deny UIHC a certificate to build its new hospital. But the council in 2021 approved a revised application, and the university broke ground days later — with plans to open the new hospital in 2025.

Mercy Iowa City, meanwhile, continued to struggle financially and filed for bankruptcy in August 2023. The university then bought Mercy for $28 million through a bankruptcy auction, acquiring about 1,000 former Mercy employees and turning its facilities into a UIHC Downtown Campus.

Because Des Moines-based MercyOne previously managed Mercy Iowa City, the bankrupt hospital has implicated its former partner throughout the liquidation process — hinting at a possible lawsuit against it and compelling MercyOne to appeal confirmation of the liquidation plan.

‘We were not involved’

As that process continues to play out, UIHC continues to expand both physically and with its services — airing new collaborations and facility projects like its North Liberty campus, its downtown campus and a new inpatient tower on the main UI campus expected to cost over $1 billion.

UIHC’s new asset purchase of Mission Cancer + Blood has it acquiring 12 leases across Central and Western Iowa — including at least three with MercyOne ties in the Des Moines area. Two of those leases run through 2028 and one goes through 2032, according to board documents.

“There were a series of calls yesterday made by the Mission team to those partners and to their referring physicians in the community,” Haws told regent JC Risewick, who asked whether the university’s purchase could have a positive or negative effect on Mission’s partnerships.

“Our intent is to prove that we intend to be good partners,” Haws said. “That we would like to deliver more cancer care locally. It's not a play to have more and more patients come to us in Iowa City that could be served in their local community.”

In response to a question from The Gazette about whether MercyOne was involved in the acquisition discussions and what the UIHC takeover could mean for its partnership with Mission Cancer, MercyOne spokesman Todd Mizener said, “MercyOne does not expect any impact from the recent purchase.”

UnityPoint Health Senior Media Relations Specialist Kevin Kirkpatrick told The Gazette, “We were not involved in any prior discussion with UIHC and/or Mission regarding the transaction and were notified of this development just prior to the public announcement.”

“We are currently assessing its implications for our patients and organization, but most importantly, we remain focused on providing comprehensive, coordinated cancer care to our patients and the communities we serve.”

‘We are all in’

In addition to the 12 leases, the deal will transfer Mission’s service agreements with other health care providers to the university. The university will provide $196 million at closing, plus another $42 million on the third anniversary of the deal and $42 million on the fifth anniversary in 2029 — after some of the current lease terms have expired.

When asked about the university’s long-term plans and intentions with current partnerships and leases, UI Vice President for Medical Affairs Denise Jamieson said, “We are committed to the long-term health and vibrancy of Mission Cancer + Blood.”

  Buy Photo

“We are committed to not only keeping the clinic sites open, but eventually expanding more broadly as needed in order to serve more Iowans,” Jamieson told reporters. “So we are all in.”

Details like lease renegotiations, however, aren’t as important as the people providing care, she said.

“It's the people,” Jamieson said. “It's the physicians and health care providers that are providing care that we see as the real value. The people are the value of this project.”

Mission Cancer — founded 43 years ago in 1981 by four doctors wanting to offer “comprehensive cancer care and personalized treatment plans in a compassionate and trusting environment close to home” — today has a team of 19 full-time physicians who are board-certified in medical oncology, hematology and internal medicine.

Mission Cancer also has 41 advanced practice providers and more than 135 nursing and other staff members across its 22 Iowa locations — all of whom are expected to become UIHC employees.

“We have an intent for the Mission staff to join us in UI Health Care,” Jamieson said. “And we really see this as an opportunity for all the staff to have greater flexibility in terms of where they work and what they're doing.”

The university recently announced plans to build a new cancer-centered research facility — as Iowa reports the fastest-growing rate of new cancers in the nation and is the only state nationally to report a significant increase in incidence from 2015 to 2019.

It was those statistics, the growing need in rural Iowa and UIHC’s larger platform and reach that compelled Mission Cancer to approach the university about a potential partnership earlier this year, Mission Chief Executive Officer Phil Stover said.

“When we started talking with UI Health Care about their platform and about our platform and our vision for expanding services to all rural communities, that's when it really got pretty exciting,” he said.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com