Facing concerns and objections from pensioners and other entities owed millions in “unsecured” claims, a bankrupt Mercy Iowa City – by means of attorneys burning through thousands by the hour – have negotiated a proposal for how to distribute the hospital’s limited resources.
Three months after hiring a leader for its complex integration with Mercy Iowa City, University of Iowa Health Care this week announced she has accepted another job and will be leaving in May -- compelling UIHC to initiate a search for a permanent chief administrator of its new downtown campus.
Including $28 million it bid in a bankruptcy auction to buy Mercy Iowa City, $8.5 million it covered of the hospital’s “cash-based operating losses,” and $3.4 million it spent resolving Mercy’s unpaid contract obligations, the University of Iowa’s total cost to acquire the 150-year-old community hospital is expected to reach nearly $40 million.
The University of Iowa is looking to lease 65,760 square feet of warehouse, office, and support space on ACT Inc.’s former Iowa City campus for use by UI Health Care’s pharmacy services group.
The University of Iowa has agreed to pay a Johnson County family $2 million to settle a lawsuit involving accusations of negligence in the 2009 delivery of their son, who “showed signs immediately of injury to his right arm” and has failed to regain full mobility.
As part of the University of Iowa’s takeover of Mercy Iowa City – which became official Wednesday and continued UI Health Care’s accelerating expansion statewide – it’s assuming more than 1,000 of Mercy’s contracts, costing $3.4 million to “cure” amounts the former community hospital owed under those agreements.
Although the skywalk spanning Market Street connecting portions of the historic Mercy Hospital campus on Wednesday morning still boasted that 150-year-old name and its teal and white colors, a sign along the street below announced Mercy’s new owner and new name: University of Iowa Health Care "Downtown Campus.“
There were 212 licensed psychiatrists practicing in the state in 2021, down from 236 in 2012, according to Iowa Health Professions Tracking Center.
As part of the ownership transfer, about 1,000 former Mercy Iowa City “team members” — including 45 physicians and 33 advanced practice providers — will become UIHC employees.
A week before Mercy Iowa City’s 150-year history comes to an end – with the bankrupt hospital transitioning to University of Iowa ownership Jan. 31 – the Board of Regents will meet Wednesday to consider new bylaws for the former Mercy campus, renamed UI Health Care Medical Center Downtown.
The new chief integration officer that University of Iowa Health Care has appointed to manage its complex merger with Mercy Iowa City — following UIHC’s $28 million bankruptcy acquisition of the community hospital — could earn $780,000 this year, according to her professional services agreement.
A letter to Mercy Iowa City patients went out over the weekend about its transition to University of Iowa Health Care ownership asking them to “continue to schedule and go to your appointments as usual.”
Just weeks away from “day one” of a merged University of Iowa-Mercy Iowa City model through which the 150-year-old Mercy Hospital will morph into UI Health Care’s “downtown campus,” job offers are going out to more than 1,100 prospective transitioning employees.
The University of Iowa shift in leadership and decision-making power has meant “significant” challenges for the $525.6 million hospital campus it’s building in North Liberty, according to an Oct. 18 audit by Baker Tilly, provided to The Gazette through an open records request.
As the University of Iowa continues its takeover of Mercy Iowa City, administrators are sharing more details about the transition — including the appointment this week of Deborah Berini to lead management and integration with the now-bankrupt community hospital.
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