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.
In a stunning turn of events many didn’t anticipate — including Mercy Iowa City and its executives — bondholder Preston Hollow Community Capital in a drawn out auction has outbid the University of Iowa for Mercy’s assets as part of the hospital’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.
Protests are planned on the University of Iowa campus next week, when a conservative student organization plans to host a lecture from a teenage activist who “vehemently opposes the transition of minors.”
Mercy Iowa City's philanthropic foundation has — after contentious backroom negotiations — agreed to help fund the hospital’s operations as it navigates Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.
University of Iowa College of Pharmacy Dean Donald E. Letendre will step down next summer -- aiming to continue leading the nationally-ranked college until his successor is hired. Even then, Letendre won’t be far -- intending to stay on faculty as a professor.
Without disclosing details about ongoing backroom auction deliberations, a U.S. bankruptcy judge has agreed to postpone “to a later date” a sale hearing for Mercy Iowa City’s assets that was scheduled for Tuesday.
Two days have passed since Mercy Iowa City opened an auction for substantially all its assets, and the hospital will head into the weekend without a new owner or operator -- notifying a U.S. bankruptcy judge Friday afternoon the auction “will resume next week.”
“Homecoming is an institution-wide event that expands beyond the walls of campus out into the greater Iowa City community,” UI senior Matt McDonnell told The Gazette, as executive director of the Iowa Homecoming Council.
This year’s Iowa Ideas conference will also touch on that growing impetus to “meet the needs of students” with a session asking what those needs are – including in the mental health realm.
Without explanation — after a long day in attorney offices in downtown Chicago — Mercy Iowa City at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday announced the historic auction for its assets as part Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings would be continued “to a later date.”
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.
Mercy Iowa City has received at least one bid to compete with the University of Iowa’s $20 million offer to purchase substantially all its assets as part of the hospital’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy — triggering an auction on Wednesday morning in Chicago.
Make no mistake, this move by the COGS is indeed a stupid one
The state produced a list of high-demand jobs after lawmakers created a new Iowa Workforce Grant and Incentive Program that set aside $6.5 million to motivate students across Iowa’s public universities to fill high-demand jobs.
© 2025 The Gazette | All Rights Reserved.
Daily Newsletters