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Regents review $72.5M in early work for University of Iowa patient-care tower; cost, traffic and funding questions raised
Summary
The Boardproperty and facilities committee reviewed four University of Iowa capital projects including $72.5 million of enabling work for a proposed UI Health Care patient tower. Regents pressed university leaders on traffic, projected total tower cost and how enabling work would proceed if the tower was delayed.
University of Iowa officials told the Board of Regentsproperty and facilities committee on June 25 that they planned $72,500,000 in "early work" to ready the UI Hospitals & Clinics (UIHC) campus for construction of a proposed patient-care tower, while also describing parallel projects at McLean Hall, the CAMBUS maintenance facility and Dwayne Banks Baseball Stadium.
The early-work package would fund entrances, road and utility work and other site improvements UIHC leaders said are necessary to keep the hospital operating and to prepare the site for a multiyear tower build. "This project is a $72,500,000 project funded by UI Health Care earnings and equity," presenter Rod Leonard said, noting that roughly $5,000,000 of the budget would address deferred maintenance on the existing hospital.
The committeechaired by Regent Robert Krameralso reviewed a $28,000,000 renovation and addition to the Iowa Advanced Technology Laboratories (to house computer science), a $23,000,000 expansion of the CAMBUS maintenance facility (partly funded by a Federal Transit Administration grant) and a $5,800,000 phase 2 of Dwayne Banks Baseball Stadium funded by athletic gifts.
Why it matters: Regents said the projects would enable expanded clinical capacity and academic programs but asked for clarity about impacts, money and timing before the full board votes. Several regents pressed UIHC leadership about traffic congestion and ambulance response times if a large tower is added in an already dense area.
Traffic, ambulances and staging
Regent David Barker asked whether putting a tower at the chosen site would worsen traffic. UIHC and university leaders listed mitigation steps including pedestrian escalators, new parking structures, a planned second ramp structure across from Carver Hawkeye Arena and traffic signal coordination with Iowa City. "We will maintain that pathway," Brad Hawes, UI Health Care CEO, said of a pedestrian route that connects to the Kinnick parking ramp. He acknowledged some "compressions" for automotive traffic but said the combination of additional ramps and lane changes should not increase roadway congestion in a way that blocks emergency access.
Barker and others pressed the group on ambulance response times. UIHC officials pointed to an existing helipad, a second emergency entrance on the east side of the hospital and ongoing refinements to surface pathways for ambulances. Hawes said the university is working with consultants such as Jacobs and a construction manager at risk, JE Dunn, to test scenarios and that the project team is sensitive to emergency access concerns.
Cost and sequencing
Committee members asked about the overall tower estimate. UIHC leaders said the current construction target is $1.5 billion for building costs; when equipment is added, the total is targeted at about $2.2 billion. "The target for the project is a $1.5 billion dollar construction total," Leonard said; UIHC leaders later added that equipment and escalation push a planning figure toward $2.2 billion. Regents and the administration repeatedly noted the estimate may move as design and federal reimbursement developments evolve.
Regent Lucy Jaden asked whether the $72.5 million early work would proceed even if the board later decided not to build the tower. Rod Leonard and Brad Hawes said the enabling work addresses access and modernization (entrances, utilities and site readiness) that would be needed in any modernization scenario and therefore could proceed even if a full tower was paused. "You are correct," Leonard said when asked whether the enabling work would go forward even if tower construction was delayed or not approved.
Next steps and votes
The committee agreed to move the capital projects and the related requests to the full board for a final vote. Because some regents planned recusals on specific items (one regent said they would recuse themselves from the CAMBUS vote), the committee said it would forward the items to the general board meeting for separate consideration. The board will vote on the projects as part of the full-board docket.
Speakers quoted were present at the committee meeting and include UIHC and regent leaders; direct quotes are attributed to the named speakers.
