Iowa City-based University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics has opened a new 30-room unit for short-stay patients as the system continues to deal with stressful crowding and capacity issues, The Gazette reported April 19.
As increasing numbers of patients visit the emergency room, capacity at the UIHC system has been constrained, exacerbated by an average of 96 percent occupancy in its 627 staffed beds, the report said.
The short-stay unit, which was opened April 17, is designed to free up limited patient beds for sicker patients and is available to people requiring further study to see if they should be released or admitted, recovering surgery patients, and those arriving in the ER who need observation, according to the report.
UIHC is considering several major new capital projects to address capacity constraints in the long term, including a $621 million, 842,000-square-foot patient tower.
Editor's Note: This article originally listed UIHC as based in Ames, Iowa. This has now been updated to reflect the correct headquarters of the system as Iowa City.