Articles Tagged: University of Iowa Health Care

With little debate or discord — after months of twists and turns and objections — a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge on Monday approved the sale of Iowa City’s only community hospital Mercy Iowa City to the University of Iowa for $28 million.

The state of Iowa will consider paying $2 million to the daughters of a Muscatine woman who died during an MRI at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in 2018 from an allergic reaction to the contrast dye administered intravenously.

Just southeast of where the ballooning University of Iowa Health Care operation is planning to build a new $1 billion inpatient tower, UI President Barbara Wilson on Tuesday surveyed a hole in the ground that will – among many things – make that new tower possible.

In response to Tuesday evening’s surprise news the University of Iowa won’t be taking over its long-time community health care competitor Mercy Hospital after being outbid in a bankruptcy auction for its assets, UI President Barbara Wilson and UI Health Care Vice President Denise Jamieson expressed disappointment Wednesday morning.

A sale for the assets of Iowa City’s 150-year-old Mercy Hospital was underway in Chicago on Wednesday afternoon — although details about bidders and results weren’t immediately made public.

Two years after Iowa’s Board of Regents gave the University of Iowa permission to build a new 469,000-square-foot hospital on 60 acres of vacant land in North Liberty, regents on Wednesday donned hard hats to tour the highly-technical steel and concrete structure that has emerged from the visionary renderings they first OK’d in September 2021.

Taking a cue from last year’s Legislature, Iowa’s public universities for the upcoming session have made significant “special purpose” funding requests that would focus on rural health care, rural development and teacher recruitment.

Bondholders demand the foundation ‘effectively empty the coffers’

The State of Iowa, on behalf of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, has agreed to pay a former pediatrics fellow more than a quarter million dollars to settle a lawsuit in which she accused UIHC of denying her disability accommodations, retaliating against her, and breaching its contract with her – “kneecapping Dr. Riley’s career aspirations.”

Katy Rasmussen took on the role as the sexual assault nurse examiner coordinator to give back to the community and support sexual assault survivors. She leads the UI SANE program, which includes 15 other nurse examiners in Johnson County.

The State Appeal Board on Tuesday agreed to pay $2.52 million to settle six lawsuits against University of Iowa Health Care — with the university paying most of that total under a new agreement inked last week upping the cap on what doctors and their insurance will cover.

Although Mercy Iowa City two weeks ago told participants of its 55-year-old pension plan – via mailed letter – that they will, for now, “continue to receive your monthly pension checks,” hospital leadership Thursday announced the temporary but immediate suspension of three other benefit programs.

Although Mercy Iowa City wants an expeditious sale of its assets – after the 150-year-old hospital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this month – its bondholders and creditors this week asked a judge to tap the brakes to give them time for due diligence and to maximize the “value of the sale.”

Although Mercy Iowa City has signed a letter of intent to sell most of its assets to the University of Iowa for $20 million, a review of assessment records show the 150-year-old community hospital’s 19 properties – all of which are intended for UI – are valued at more than $137.3 million.

Accusing Mercy Iowa City Hospital of misdirecting blame for its “prolonged, observed deterioration over the course of several years” that brought it to “being liquidated through a bankruptcy fire sale process for a mere $20 million,” bondholders have asked a judge to appoint an examiner to answer several of its key questions.