Projects for review at next Iowa Board of Regents meeting
UI Health Care seeks approval to relocate EMS Learning Resource Center and purchase land on Bloomington St. in Iowa City
At the next Iowa Board of Regents meeting Sept. 17-Sept. 18, UI Health Care is bringing two items for approval: the relocation of the EMS Learning Resource Center and the purchase of land on Bloomington St. in Iowa City.
Enhanced training facilities for Iowa’s future EMS professionals
UI Health Care is requesting permission from the Iowa Board of Regents to proceed with a project relocating the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Learning Resource Center from UI Health Care’s university campus to University Capitol Centre.
The EMS Learning Resource Center has provided training programs and advanced continuing education for emergency medical technicians, paramedics, and other first responders for the past 45 years. There is a nationwide shortage of emergency medical personnel, making training programs like those available at EMS Learning Resource Center more important than ever.
Having long outgrown its space on the sixth floor of south wing at UI Health Care’s university campus, the EMS Learning Resource Center would be relocated to a newly renovated space on the second floor of University Capitol Centre at 200 S. Capitol Street, pending Iowa Board of Regents approval. This would provide the program’s faculty and students with larger classrooms, updated infrastructure, better simulation space, and more.
“A facility specifically designed for teaching, with more space and better infrastructure, will be highly beneficial for the student experience,” says Mike McElmeel, MSM, NRP, director of the EMS Learning Resource Center and lead instructor.
Once the EMS Learning Resource Center is relocated, it will free up space at university campus to accommodate the operational growth and expansion of central nursing telemetry monitoring units serving multiple campuses.
If approved by the Iowa Board of Regents, UI Health Care would begin renovating space for the EMS Learning Resource Center at University Capitol Centre this fall, with completion slated for spring 2026.
Additional real estate for downtown campus
UI Health Care is requesting Iowa Board of Regents approval to purchase land located at and next to 601 East Bloomington Street in Iowa City. The site is next to UI Health Care’s downtown campus, allowing for flexible and efficient use.
The land currently has a former medical office building that has been unused for several years. It is the only remaining real estate that was part of the former Mercy Iowa City hospital campus on Market Street. The property was not included in UI Health Care’s 2024 acquisition of much of Mercy Iowa City’s assets.
The former medical office building structure has outdated infrastructure and does not meet modern standards for medical use. UI Health Care plans to raze the existing building, if approved by the Iowa Board of Regents. Razing the building provides the most cost-effective, flexible, and future-oriented solution to meet the community’s needs. In the short term, UI Health Care anticipates using the site as surface parking.