Leaders, faculty, and staff with University of Iowa Health Care continually strive for innovation and growth in all of the missions on which the organization is built. Ensuring that the facilities and the infrastructure that support those missions continue to reflect that same commitment to growth and innovation is key to providing the best in education, research, and health care.

“Our many building and renovation projects highlight the importance we place on maintaining and constantly improving the university’s mission of exceptional education and research, while at the same time providing the best services to our patients and community,” says Jean Robillard, M.D., UI vice president for medical affairs. “The benefit of all of these facilities—for our patients, our staff, and the community as a whole—will be enormous.”

Visitors to the UI Health Care campus, which consists of University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, can see signs of progress at nearly every turn. Significant construction projects in various phases of development include the new Cancer Center; the Pappajohn Biomedical Discovery Building; and a new University of Iowa Children’s Hospital.

One building project was just completed away from the main health campus. University of Iowa Health Care—Iowa River Landing is an ambulatory care clinic that opened in October in Coralville. Located at 105 E. Ninth St., it brings together primary care services, including general pediatrics and general internal medicine, and specialty clinics, such as cardiology, dermatology, urology, and women’s health.

Many services you’d expect to find in a comprehensive clinic are also available at Iowa River Landing, including blood draw services, hearing aid center, optical shop, pharmacy, and radiology services. There is also a pharmacotherapy medication management clinic and an anticoagulation case management office for patients receiving anticoagulation, or blood thinning therapy.

UI President Sally Mason says the Iowa River Landing facility/clinic and other pending health care projects “fulfill the broader University of Iowa missions of education and research.”

With Iowa River Landing, “we build upon our legacy of enhancing the health of communities across the state, a legacy that Iowans can indeed be very proud about,” says Mason.

The nearly $73 million facility is located in the growing Iowa River Landing area of Coralville and has “comfort amenities” for patients and families, including free parking, a coffee shop, and nearby retail stores, restaurants, and museums.

Many projects across the entire UI campus promote sustainability and are designed and constructed with the environment in mind, and Iowa River Landing is no exception. From energy-conserving efforts including the use of natural and LED lighting and an innovative energy-efficient cooling system to water conservation designs and the use of nontoxic materials in construction, Iowa River Landing prides itself as “more than a little green.”

Key points about other significant projects:

Pappajohn Biomedical Discovery Building

Where: Carver College of Medicine campus

Cost: $70 million, funded by a partnership including the state of Iowa, the federal government, the university, and private resources, including a $27 million gift from John and Mary Pappajohn.

Size: 200,000 square feet

Purpose: To house the Pappajohn Biomedical Institute, the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center, and the Iowa Institute for Biomedical Imaging. Will be home base for high-risk collaborative research aimed at finding cures for complex illnesses. Six floors of laboratory space designed to facilitate multidisciplinary science will allow collaborators from across campus to delve into diseases and conditions of greatest concern for society, including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, metabolic diseases, neurosciences, and aging.

LEED support: The Pappajohn Biomedical Discovery Building is being constructed with a sustainability focus, including reflective and “green” roofing; low-emitting sealants, paints and carpets; water-efficient landscaping; and the use of recycled materials.

Scheduled completion: 2014

Cancer Center

Where: Pomerantz Family Pavilion, UI Hospitals and Clinics. It is actually in the West addition of Pomerantz.

Cost: $12 million, paid through patient revenue

Size: 64,000 square feet

Purpose: The Cancer Center, which was designed with patient input, is home to more exam rooms than were previously available, two procedure rooms, and 40 infusion suites. The facility is located above radiation oncology, so nearly all cancer services are consolidated into one area of the hospital. Patient-centered features of the new clinic include a bigger, more comfortable waiting area, private and semi-private infusion suites with a private television and a family room with a kitchenette and fireplace.

Opened: December 2011

UI Children’s Hospital

Where: UI Hospitals and Clinics campus

Cost: Approximately $292 million, funded through bonds, patient revenue, and private gifts.

Size: 480,000 square feet over 14 floors (12 above ground, 2 below ground)

Purpose: A stand-alone comprehensive children’s hospital. Plans include enhancing the patient and family experience, expanding existing programs, and developing new services on-site and throughout Iowa.

Completion: Targeted for March 2016