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Byline
By Medicine Iowa Editorial Staff : Spring 2025
Title

Emergency Department Expansion

Subtitle

Renovations, relocations at university campus to boost capacity, efficiency

Sections

As a Level 1 trauma center for adult and pediatric patients, the emergency department on UI Health Care’s university campus is one of the busiest in Iowa. The team treats some of the most complex trauma and emergency transfer cases in the state, which is a key factor in the expansion project to reduce wait times and increase access to emergency care for the area and region.

Once the work is finished in summer 2025, the emergency department on the university campus will have added 13 treatment rooms—bringing its total to 60—as well as a new triage area and new multifunctional spaces that can support assessment and treatment for pediatric and behavioral health patients. 

And with enhanced triage and imaging capabilities at UI Health Care’s downtown campus emergency department (ED), plus the opening of a new ED at the North Liberty campus this spring, patients will have greater access to timely, high-quality emergency care.

“Our goal is to improve access, so that no matter where you go first for emergency care treatment, we can help you get the right care at the right time,” says Denise Jamieson, MD, MPH, UI vice president for medical affairs and the Tyrone D. Artz Dean of the Carver College of Medicine.

“Whether a patient is transferred to the emergency department for critical care or they choose to come to the university campus first, these additional spaces will increase access and our ability to accept patients and render quality care efficiently.””
Andrew Nugent (96MD), clinical professor and chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine.
Pediatric CSU UI Health Care
A view of the newly renovated Adolescent Crisis Stabilization Unit for pediatric patients.
ed expansion
Exterior view of the expanded Emergency Department at Medical Center on University campus.

PHASE 1 COMPLETED
The first phase of the university campus ED project—a southward and vertical expansion—focused on the relocation of the Crisis Stabilization Unit from Level 7 of the John Pappajohn Pavilion to the second level of the ED in the Roy Carver Pavilion. This move is designed to improve the speed and efficiency of care for patients experiencing a mental health emergency.  Designated space also was created for an Adolescent Crisis Stabilization Unit, offering streamlined treatment for pediatric patients. Both adult and pediatric units opened their new locations late last year.


PHASE 2 UNDERWAY
The ED’s northward expansion on the first level of the Carver Pavilion began in December. This work will create an expanded pediatric emergency space that includes two resuscitation rooms, a procedure room, dedicated triage rooms, and its own waiting room. This new space will better serve pediatric and adolescent populations and help provide specialized emergency care for Iowans of all ages.

Photos by Liz Martin and Justin Torner