Vanessa Miller

Three days after asking a judge to get involved in the delayed distribution of Mercy Iowa City’s liquidated assets -- accusing the bankrupt hospital’s management team of poor communication and miscalculation in stalling payments -- Mercy’s bondholders last week finally got back some of the long-sought $62.8 million they’re owed.

Making official a likely union Mount Mercy and St. Ambrose universities announced earlier this year in the face of financial headwinds sweeping across higher education, presidents of the two Eastern Iowa Catholic campuses Thursday signed a formal agreement to combine their institutions.

Nearly two months after a bankruptcy judge confirmed a liquidation plan for the former Mercy Iowa City’s tens of millions in assets, and more than a month after that plan went into effect, secured bondholders “have yet to receive a single ‘effective date’ distribution.”

Although Iowa — as America’s top hog producer — generated $10.9 billion in cash receipts in 2022, it could have made more if not for the persistence of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, according to new Iowa State University research.

The University of Iowa has agreed to pay a federally-funded researcher and cardiologist with tenure $350,000 to resign -- relinquishing his tenure rights and suspending “any internal proceedings” involving him.

On July 22, ISU officially closed its DEI office, university spokeswoman Angie Hunt said. The closure cut five positions, although only two of those posts were filled at the time.

A year after a swell of top medical schools boycotted the U.S. News & World Report rankings for their reliance on reputation and other potentially-biased metrics, the publication has re-calibrated its process and released new grouping-style med school standings -- putting the University of Iowa in a second tier of four.

With a new increase in state appropriations — after lawmakers withheld one last year — paired with a strong enrollment outlook and recently-approved tuition bumps, all three of Iowa’s public universities are anticipating a total revenue boost in the new budget year.

Propelled by a 27-percent spike in women’s basketball income, a favorable home football schedule paired with ticket “price adjustments,” and a first-ever revenue line item for its new women’s wrestling team, University of Iowa Athletics is projecting another year of record-setting revenue.

The University of Iowa has agreed to “settle fully and finally all differences” with its former College of Liberal Arts and Sciences senior human resources director by reassigning her and continuing to pay her until the end of the year or until she finds another job -- whichever comes first.

The last 12 months have brought massive change across University of Iowa Health Care – from its name and brand to its expanding footprint to its leadership, with at least seven of the growing enterprise’s top administrators either joining the executive team or being invited to since Aug. 1, 2023.

For the first time in several years, the University of Iowa’s Health Care operation has made gains in the oft-touted U.S. News & World Report “best hospital” rankings, with the 2024-25 edition released this week.

After years of declining or stagnant enrollment, aggravated by the 2020 pandemic, Kirkwood Community College is reporting a summer rebound and encouraging signs for a strong fall showing.

Having spent nearly 40 years of his professional career serving Kirkwood Community College as a coordinator, director, dean, and recruiter, Doug Bannon is adding another title to his Kirkwood resume after being appointed Tuesday to replace retiring chair Jim Mollenhauer on the board of trustees.

The Domestic Violence Intervention Program on Wednesday announced it has hired as its new program director for sexual assault services Shell Feijo, an author, instructor, and trained victims advocate who is listed as an adjunct faculty member with UI, where she earned a doctorate of interdisciplinary studies — specifically race, class and gender.