The Iowa Board of Regents approved the University of Iowa’s plan to purchase assets and leases owned by Mission Cancer + Blood. (Stock photo via Getty Images)
The Iowa Board of Regents gave the University of Iowa the go-ahead Wednesday to buy a cancer care network with more than 20 clinics in communities across Iowa.
UI leaders presented their plan to the board to purchase assets and assume leases of Mission Cancer + Blood with a proposed price of $280 million. The board granted unanimous support at an online meeting.
Mission Cancer + Blood, founded in 1981 under the name Medical Oncology & Hematology Associates, provides cancer services including chemotherapy, immunotherapy, genetic counseling and lab work, among others, said UI Vice President for Medical Affairs and Carver College of Medicine Dean Denise Jamieson.
Bringing Mission Cancer + Blood into the university’s fold opens up opportunities and benefits that align closely with its strategic plans, Jamieson said, from improving access to care for Iowans to expanding education and training offerings for students. This will also create more opportunities for community-based clinical research and, hopefully, keep more physicians in the state, he said.
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According to the 2024 Cancer in Iowa Report, in addition to Iowa holding its spot as the state with the second-highest rate of new cancer cases in the U.S., it also has the fastest-growing rate of new cancers. More than 6,000 Iowans are expected to die this year from cancer, and about 21,000 people are expected to receive a new diagnosis.
“Cancer rates in Iowa are the second highest in the nation, and they’re rising, and in the midst of this cancer crisis, access to cancer care across the state is insufficient to meet the needs of Iowans, and this is particularly true in rural Iowa,” Jamieson said. “So by joining forces with Mission Cancer and Blood, we believe that we can bring the highest quality cancer care closer to home for all Iowans.”
Mission Cancer + Blood has 21 locations in Iowa, with three in the Des Moines area and the rest scattered across communities and rural areas. Bradley Haws, UI Hospitals & Clinics CEO and associate vice president of UI Health Care, said in the meeting the university would assume the leases for all of the clinic locations the company currently has, and clinical operations will fall under UI Health Care.
Haws said the university is, in short, purchasing “expertise and the ongoing success of a business operation” through its acquisition of Mission Cancer + Blood that will allow the UI to further its reach and better care for rural Iowans.
When asked by Regent JC Risewick whether this purchase could damage relationships Mission Cancer + Blood has with other regional health care providers, Haws said he believes that UnityPoint Health and MercyOne will see this as a chance to partner with the UI as well as the company.
“It’s not a play to have more and more and more patients come to us in Iowa City that could be served in their local communities or in Des Moines,” Haws said. “We do believe that there are some that are leaving the state that we could keep here within our catchment area, but this is not a play to take patients from the current catchment areas within Iowa.”
Regent Nancy Dunkel thanked the UI officials and President Barbara Wilson for bringing this to the board, reiterating that the state is second in the nation in its rate of new cancer cases. These efforts hit close to home for her, as she said cancer is “in our house” and that they go to the UI for care.
“We need to do everything we can, and I just want to, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for this journey, because that’s what it is,” Dunkel said. “So, I strongly support this.”
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