An
additional government-owned hospital in Johnson County is unnecessary, a waste
of state resources and could harm 11 other regional hospitals, according to
Mercy Iowa City Board Chairman, Tom McLaughlin. The University of Iowa Health
Care system, a state entity, has submitted a proposal for the $230 million
hospital.
“This
region is already well-served with 11 hospitals which have capacity to serve
more patients in the Iowa City area,” says Sean Williams, President and CEO,
Mercy Iowa City, an affiliate of MercyOne. The University of Iowa has hospitals
just eight miles south of North Liberty.
“The region is saturated with duplicative services, and this
public hospital will unnecessarily compete with community hospitals,” said
McLaughlin. “As the State’s hospital, University of Iowa Health Care should
collaborate, not compete, with local hospitals. The public sector should not be
competing with private enterprise, let alone at the price tag of $230 million
in the middle of a pandemic.”
University of
Iowa Health Care is Iowa's only
comprehensive academic medical
center
which provides highly-specialized adult and children’s tertiary care. “They should focus on medical
advancements, not expanding their footprint in community health care,” added
McLaughlin.
“Across health care, we are all experiencing the financial
impacts of COVID-19 on our hospitals, clinics and staff,” says Williams. “We
should be focused on how we can partner to serve the needs of Iowans, not
fighting the State for the survival of our 150-year-old Catholic community
hospital.”
The
University of Iowa Children’s Hospital was the University’s last hospital
project. It was planned as a $285 million expenditure but was over budget by
more than $100 million. “The University’s track record with large
taxpayer-backed projects is concerning,” says Williams. “In addition to the
Children’s hospital over-expenditure, it’s difficult to understand why UIHC
would seek to build a $230 million hospital while it is operating with a $100
million deficit due to COVID-19, and while it simultaneously seeks to reduce
and furlough staff and accept CARES funding.”
Mercy Iowa
City formally submitted a letter of opposition to the Certificate of Need
Program in January and will request the State Health Facilities Council deny
the University of Iowa’s application at a hearing scheduled for Wednesday,
February 17.
# # #
About Mercy Iowa City
Mercy Iowa City is an acute care hospital and regional referral center for
southeast Iowa. Mercy has received: the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS)
5 Star Rating as a Top 2% of all hospitals for the 4th consecutive year, the only
hospital in Iowa to do so; the Fortune IBM/Watson Health 100 Top Hospital
ranking; the Fortune IBM/Watson Health 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospital ranking;
the accredited Chest Pain Center with the American Heart Association Gold Plus
Achievement Award for Stroke Care; the Top 100 Community Hospitals Award in
2018 and 2019 from Becker’s Review; the Press Ganey Guardian of
Excellence Award for Mercy’s Emergency Care Unit by achieving 95
percent for patient experience for 13 consecutive years; and the Center of
Distinction Award from Healogics for Mercy’s Wound and Vein Center. Mercy has 194
acute care beds, 25 private rooms for outpatient surgery, a 26-bed nursery with
Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, 28 primary and specialty care clinics, a
medical staff of 250 physicians representing all major medical specialties and
most subspecialties, and 1,350 employees. It was founded by the Sisters of
Mercy in 1873 and became an affiliate of MercyOne in 2017. To learn more visit www.mercyiowacity.org.