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Three years after getting the state OK to build an ambulatory surgery center near the booming North Liberty-Tiffin border, Steindler Orthopedic Clinic is two weeks from opening a 100,000-square-foot facility on March 24.
The $29.3 million Steindler project sits 2 miles west of where the University of Iowa is scheduled on April 28 to debut its new $525.6 million orthopedics-centered hospital in what is fast becoming an orthopedics-heavy health care hub along Forevergreen Road between Highway 965 and Interstate 380.
Both projects have been in the works for years, and cleared a range of hurdles -- including price increases and construction delays that pushed their completion dates from late 2024 into spring 2025.
With its opening March 24, the North Liberty Steindler space will include both a clinic designed to enhance patient flow and a "state-of-the-art orthopedic ambulatory surgery center" featuring six operating rooms.
Those types of surgery centers offer patients a "lower cost outpatient option for many procedures that previously required hospital admission," according to a Steindler Orthopedics news release on its upcoming opening.
Ambulatory surgery centers "typically cost about 40 percent less than hospital-based procedures, making them an excellent choice for same-day outpatient surgeries," according to Steindler. "Same-day surgeries and simplified check-ins create a smoother, more convenient patient experience."
Its operating rooms will feature robotics and the latest orthopedic technology.
Its new orthopedic clinic aims to improve the patient experience by minimizing communal waiting and shortening total wait times by separating patient corridors from those used for staff members.
With the facility's debut, Steindler's 18 physicians -- plus physician assistants, physical therapists and other hand and occupational therapists -- will vacate a 33,000-square-foot space it has occupied for decades off Northgate Drive in Iowa City.
With its North Liberty project in the works, Steindler sold that Iowa City property three years ago in 2022 for $11 million to a Kansas City investor in hopes of opening its former home to private practice physicians once empty.
This month's grand opening comes just under two years after breaking ground on the project in summer 2023 -- just over two years after UI Health Care in September 2021 broke ground on its 469,000-square-foot North Liberty campus.
In addition to their physical proximity, the health care entities have historical connections dating back to Arthur Steindler, who started at the UI in 1912 and was appointed the university's first Department of Orthopedics chair in 1925.
After serving in that role for two decades -- pioneering musculoskeletal treatment and technology -- Steindler in 1949 left to become chief of orthopedics at Mercy Iowa City. The next year he founded Steindler Orthopedic Clinic -- aligning its entree into North Liberty this year with its 75th anniversary.
"The roots of orthopedics in Iowa trace back to Dr. Arthur Steindler and the tradition of excellence he established at the Steindler Orthopedic Clinic in 1950," Steindler President and Chief Executive Officer Patrick Magallanes said in a statement. "By investing in a modern, patient-centered clinic design and a fully equipped ambulatory surgery center, Dr. Steindler's vision for excellence in orthopedic care continues to serve, as we proudly uphold our legacy of delivering accessible, patient-focused, high-quality orthopedic care with high patient satisfaction at a lower cost."
When the UI first applied for a state certificate to build a hospital in North Liberty, officials highlighted their vision for an orthopedics focus -- drawing criticism from health care competitors concerned the university would drive community clinics and providers out of business.
Following the state's rejection of its first application on those grounds, UI Health Care officials stripped any mention of orthopedics from a revised application, which then received state approval in 2021.
Since breaking ground, the UI increasingly has aired its orthopedic focus for the North Liberty campus -- which now features an "orthopedics and sports medicine" banner.
And in announcing its spring opening this month, UIHC officials said the system's first newly-constructed hospital facility away from its main university campus in Iowa City will welcome its first patients to the hospital's "orthopedic clinics and operating rooms, orthopedic injury walk-in clinic, and emergency department on Monday, April 28."
In addition to a new emergency room, 24-hour drive-through pharmacy and clinical lab, the campus will be home to the UI Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation.
"The North Liberty campus will provide a full range of musculoskeletal care -- surgery and inpatient care, outpatient clinic services, advanced diagnostic imaging, and a walk-in clinic specifically for acute orthopedic injuries -- all under one roof," according to a UIHC news release on the opening, along with an April 12 open house for the public. "The North Liberty medical center also will serve as the primary location for UI Sports Medicine services."
"We've always provided the most comprehensive treatments and follow-up care for orthopedic patients -- from the routine to the most complex and challenging musculoskeletal problems," J. Lawrence Marsh, chair of the UI Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation, said in a statement. "With our new hospital, we'll be able to provide even greater care and service to patients in our community and from across the state."