Every day, across our nearly five million square feet of patient care facilities here at UI Hospitals & Clinics, dedicated teams evaluate the condition of our spaces to make sure we fulfill our commitment to provide safe and effective care for our patients, their families, and our staff.
As a result of proactive and regular monitoring our facilities, our team identified some windows in our University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital that are not performing to industry standards. That’s why we are asking the Board of Regents for permission to replace windows located on Levels 4 and 5 (the surgical and recovery areas) and the connector bridge between the adult and children’s hospitals. No patient rooms are affected and no injuries have occurred as a result of these windows.
With the precautionary actions we have implemented, we have validated the building is safe for continued use and the windows do not pose any risk for our patients and staff. Out of an abundance of caution, however, protective film has already been installed on the affected windows and we have closed some outdoor areas, such as the playground. These precautionary measures will remain until the windows can be replaced to keep our patients and their families, our employees and our visitors safe.
The window replacement project will be initially funded through the hospital’s patient care revenue. No taxpayer dollars will be used. We are working with the contractors responsible for the design, manufacture, and installation of the windows to secure reimbursement of the hospital’s costs, expected to be between $10 million and $15 million.
We will keep you updated as the replacement project proceeds.