The $100 million project is still a “top priority” of the health system although planning is “on pause,” according to MercyOne Northwest Iowa COO Ryan Meyer. The health system has worked with a design firm to plan a 158,131-square-foot building. However, MercyOne has yet to apply for a certificate of need.
Jack Dusenbery, the former MeryOne Northwest Iowa president, anticipated the hospital opening in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic and leadership changes put a pause on the project.
“We had to shift whatever would have been traditional investment in projects to really cover those immediate needs of extra staff, bed utilization, and supply costs,” Jill Groth, MercyOne Cedar Falls Medical Center site administrator, told the Courier. “And now that those costs are settling into more of a routine expense, we’re able to then look at what types of project priorities we need to continue to move those funds toward like we always would have traditionally.”
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