Hunter
06/07/23
Continuing their ten year modernization plan, University of Iowa Health Care will be asking for Board of Regents for nearly a quarter billion dollars to construct a new health sciences academic building.
The Gazette reports the new six-story facility will house a trio of nationally-esteemed departments at the UI health campus: Communication Sciences and Disorders; Health and Human Physiology; and Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science.
UIHC says all three departments are being operated out of aging facilities. The Wendell Johnson Speech and Hearing Center currently houses the Communication Sciences and Disorders department and is scheduled for demolition to make way for a new inpatient tower.
The building would be constructed behind Slater Residence Hall, one block east of the UIHC main hospital.
The Board of Regents recently gave the university permission for a $185 million construction project. It includes an expansion of the emergency department, a two-floor addition to the current UIHC inpatient tower, conversion of the south wings for more patient beds, an opthalmology simulation lab, an expansion of the neonatal intensive care unit, and a new parking ramp.
Construction on the new health sciences academic building would be paid for by a combination of hospital revenue, investment income, debt, and private donations.