Largest-ever University of Iowa gift to put Jacobson name on new hospital tower

IOWA CITY — When University of Iowa Health Care eventually builds a new inpatient tower on its main Iowa City campus — recently revealed as part of its 10-year master plan — officials intend to name it in honor of the late Richard O. Jacobson, whose foundation recently committed $70 million to the project.

That gift, according to the UI Center for Advancement, is the largest in the university’s 175-year history and brings Jacobson’s total lifetime support to more than $86 million — including gifts to the UI football program, John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center and Iowa Reading Research Center.

The Board of Regents next week will consider approving the Jacobson name for the new inpatient tower, which officials have said will help a cramped UI Health Care “meet the complex care needs of all Iowans, allowing them to receive high-quality care without leaving the state.”

“Richard Jacobson’s commitment to the UI was extraordinary, and this latest and very generous gift on his behalf will allow our exceptional health care team to deliver the highest level of care to all Iowans,” UI President Barbara Wilson said in a statement.

Jacobson died in 2016 at age 79. He started a warehouse business in 1968 that grew into a shipping business employing thousands.

The new inpatient tower is among three major projects UIHC recently revealed as part of the campus’ 10-year facilities master plan. UI Health Care also is planning to build a new Carver College of Medicine research building and new ambulatory care tower on its central Iowa City campus — adjacent to Kinnick Stadium, west of the Iowa River.

Although planning for the new tower is in its infancy, officials on Tuesday said it will boast single inpatient rooms, state-of-the-art operating rooms and more intensive care unit beds — addressing UIHC’s issues with capacity, rising demand for patient care and transfers and limitations that come with aging facilities.

UIHC recently started building a new $395 million, 469,000-square-foot hospital and clinic operation on a 60-acre site in North Liberty — just five years after opening its $392.7 million 14-story UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital on its main campus.

But officials project health care needs will continue grow.

“Over the next decade, Iowa will face a health care crisis related to an aging population with complex care needs,” UI Vice President for Medical Affairs Brooks Jackson said in a statement. "This new facility is an important piece of a larger plan to meet these needs. And this visionary gift will positively impact the lives of Iowans throughout the state for generations to come.”

The Board of Regents in 2015 approved naming the new UI Children’s Hospital after Jerre and Mary Joy Stead, in honor of their $25 million commitment to children’s medicine at UI.

Richard “Dick” Jacobson grew up in Belmond in north-central Iowa and received the UI Distinguished Alumni Award in 2000 for his giving to the UI. UI Athletics named its Richard O. Jacobson Football Operations Building to honor his football program donations.

Reacting to this week’s news of Jacobson’s largest gift in UI history, Gov. Kim Reynolds said in a statement, “This generous gift from the Richard O. Jacobson Foundation will not only expand access to world-class care in our state, it will further elevate UIHC's national reputation as a health care innovator and attract more medical professionals to fulfilling careers in Iowa.”

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

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