Hunter
09/16/24
University of Iowa Health Care has decided to pass on a public job search and has instead appointed a longtime administrator to head its new North Liberty Hospital.
UI officials reportedly told The Gazette they first promoted longtime administrator Amy O’Deen to function “as the chief operating executive of the UIHC North Liberty campus planning and development” on June 1, 2019. That was six months before the university submitted an application for a state certificate of need to build the three-story hospital and two years before they broke ground on the project.
Deen has been at UIHC since 1983 in various roles, including stints as interim executive director of the UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital and as interim chief operating officer. Public records indicate her current salary exceeds $323,600.
The university’s hiring and appointments policy doesn’t require a public search for administrative positions, but it does say deviations from affirmative action procedures are strongly discouraged.
The hospital, with a price tag of over $525 million, is set to open sometime in the spring of 2025.