By Chris Miller, Assistant Editor, Facility Market

The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) recently announced a new hospital in North Liberty, according to KCRG. The decision, granted by the State Health Facilities Council, comes after an initial denial and more than nine hours of testimony.

The decision took time because the state had to approve a certificate of need to build the new hospital, which will have 48 beds with 16 operating rooms and is projected to be completed by 2025. The state council denied the proposal in a 3-2 vote in February. A resignation on the council gave the hospitals a chance to reverse this decision through a second vote. The final vote for approval was 4-1.

The new hospital will provide long-term specialized care to its admitted patients. The current hospital has had to reject thousands of patient transfers due to capacity issues in this year alone. The new hospital is projected to cost $230 million.

The plan to expand has met with some objections from other eastern Iowa hospitals, where officials say a new University of Iowa hospital will financially hurt their operations and make it tough to keep employees. They also argue that other surrounding hospitals already have enough capacity to perform their existing operations. UIHC is attempting to expand into primary and secondary care.