University of Iowa Health Care announced Thursday that it will delay the inpatient tower project as it reevaluates its facilities’ master plan following a $1 trillion cut in federal health care spending nationwide. 

The tower project, which is billed as expanding space for UIHC’s most complex patients who require specialty care,  is still in its early stages, with a series of enabling projects currently in the works to begin construction on the new tower. The tower is projected to cost north of $2 billion and was kickstarted by a $70 million donation by the Richard O. Jacobson Foundation. 

According to a news release from UIHC on Thursday, the project will continue on a new timeline, as UIHC works with UI officials and the Iowa Board of Regents on reevaluating its facilities master plan. 

A KFF health news analysis of the Congressional Budget Office’s latest cost estimate predicts that the $1 trillion cut in federal health care spending will result in a $9.5 billion reduction in federal health care spending in Iowa alone. 

While UIHC comprises the largest health care system in Iowa, it expects to be “facing an increasingly challenging health care delivery and reimbursement landscape” over the next decade, the release said. 

“We are taking time to make decisions about our facility projects so we have in mind the best outcomes for the long-term health and well-being of Iowans, our mission of patient care, education, and research, and our employees,” Denise Jamieson, the UI vice president for medical affairs and dean of the Carver College of Medicine, said in a statement Thursday. “As we look at decisions, we are going to focus on what’s right for Iowa, balancing the highest priorities with the anticipated reduction in available resources.” 

However, the release noted the UI is in a more stable financial position than other academic health care systems across the U.S., though it will have to adjust timelines on its 10-year facilities master plan to account for the increasingly complex health care funding landscape. 

UIHC will continue moving forward on a handful of the enabling projects that make way for the new inpatient tower, which will adjoin the current university medical center campus. 

This includes continuing the construction of a new road that connects Newton Road to the main campus and continuing the demolition of the old water tower on the medical center’s campus, which is planned to start next spring. 

UIHC will indefinitely delay the demolition of Hospital Parking Ramp 1 and the Wendell Johnson Speech and Hearing Center, which both sit in the footprint of the proposed inpatient tower. Work on renovating the main hospital entrance and skywalks will also be put on hold as it revisits its facilities’ master plan. 

While some projects related to the inpatient tower are delayed, UIHC plans to continue working on the modernization of the university and downtown medical campuses, and the expansion of cancer research space.  

“As more Iowans seek UI Health Care for their care, we remain committed to creating access wherever we can,” Bradley Haws, the chief executive officer and associate vice president of UIHC, said in a statement Thursday. “We know that UI Health Care is not able to care for every patient who needs our services. That’s why we continue to make advancements to add inpatient rooms through the Jacobson tower and modernization of our aging facilities. While projects may not be on the same timeframe or scope as originally planned, we will do the best we can with the resources available to us.”