Iowa City-based University of Iowa Health Care is asking the Iowa Board of Regents to move the Richard O. Jacobson name from its canceled patient care tower to the existing adult hospital on its university campus.
The naming request comes from a $70 million commitment the Richard O. Jacobson Foundation made to the University of Iowa in 2022. It was the largest gift in the university’s 175-year history. The regents approved naming the planned tower for Mr. Jacobson on Feb. 23, 2022.
That tower will no longer be built. On Sept. 17, the board approved a revised capital plan that replaces new construction with modernization and expansion of existing spaces across the health system. UI Health Care cited a challenging financial environment and the need to add inpatient beds faster.
UI Health Care said in a Nov. 4 announcement that moving the naming recognition to the adult hospital would honor Mr. Jacobson’s contributions and philanthropic legacy. The revised capital plan is expected to let about 23,000 more patients get care sooner than the original tower timeline allowed.
The health system is also asking for design and budget approval to build out shell space on the sixth floor of the College of Pharmacy Building for cancer-focused research. The space would serve both the Carver College of Medicine and the College of Pharmacy. Construction is expected to start in spring 2027 and finish in summer 2028.
The build-out replaces a standalone cancer research facility that the university approved for planning in September 2024 and has since stopped pursuing because of projected budget limits.
The requests follow UI Health Care’s decision in September to drop plans for an inpatient tower that would have cost more than $2 billion.
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