The University of Iowa Health system made a final bid of $28 million in its ultimately unsuccessful attempt at buying bankrupt Mercy Iowa City hospital, according to an Oct. 16 report in The Gazette.
The Iowa City-based health system would also have invested north of $25 million in "immediate facility upgrades," the report added, citing Denise Jamieson, MD, UI Health Care's vice president for medical affairs.
Instead, the university lost out to bondholder Preston Hollow Community Capital, whose bid amount has not been disclosed. The investor group also said when its winning bid was announced that it would inject "significant capital" into the hospital.
"We strongly believed our proposal was in the best interest of Mercy Iowa City, its employees, its patients, as well as our own employees," Dr. Jamieson said. "We were disappointed in the outcome."
There has been no confirmation of an actual sale of the hospital to Preston Hollow, which plans to operate the facility with Glendale, Calif.-based American Healthcare Systems.