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University of Iowa, hospital and regent officials say the hospital never was and will not be for sale and there won't be any exclusive relationships.

"No one is going to mess around with that. That is crazy," Gartner said Thursday, adding he had no knowledge of Iowa Health's intentions or how the rumor started.

Regent Bob Downer of Iowa City concurs from the university's end but said Thursday there was and still could be some validity to the concerns.

"The concern expressed by Genesis (Health Systems of Davenport) is a valid concern and one I would share," Downer said. "The concern (Genesis CEO and President Leo Bressanelli) expresses was the intention of Iowa Health."

Downer described the situation as "somewhat beyond the rumor stage" and said it stemmed from Iowa Health, not the university.

"Somehow the message got through that UIHC was not for sale, period," Downer said.

Iowa Health backed off, Downer said, and the rumor died midway through 2006, but it has resurfaced.

"I heard a couple things recently that people at Iowa Health are talking about this," Downer said.

In September, Bressanelli e-mailed Gartner expressing concerns about an "exclusive strategic alliance" between the university and Iowa Health, the largest integrated health-care provider in the state with eight hospitals and $1.8 billion in net revenues. He was unsure how such an arrangement would affect a longstanding relationship between Genesis and UI.

Des Moines-based Iowa Health's April 2006 letter of intent for collaborative programs with University Hospitals such as medical education, employer health benefits and provider networking spiked Bressanelli's interest.

"I do know that the matter was being discussed privately without the knowledge of those organizations that might be affected by such an arrangement," Bressanelli wrote in the e-mail. "I am not aware of any consideration or consultation with major health care stakeholders and supporters of the University health care system."

University officials, who agreed to collaboration in the spring, told him then and continue to say it is not exclusive.

Bressanelli, however, remained leery.

"I was uneasy in attempting to reconcile assurances with the actions that had transpired. I privately questioned whether or not the leadership of the School of Medicine and University Hospital(s) had found themselves buffeted by a now politicized issue," Bressanelli wrote.

Bressanelli declined comment when contacted Thursday.

Iowa Health spokesman Proctor Lureman said Iowa Health has not sought an exclusive deal with University Hospitals and has not tried to buy it.

UI Interim President Gary Fethke said Thursday that University Hospitals is not for sale, and it would not enter exclusive relationships.

"We will not form exclusive partnerships, but non-exclusive partnerships are appropriate whenever there are good reasons to cooperate and to mutually benefit," he said.

University Hospitals, a 760-bed primary and tertiary care center and academic medical center, has more than 6,500 physicians and staff, and is one of the nation's largest university-owned teaching hospitals. The hospital partners with the UI Carver College of Medicine through a program called UI Health Care.

"We continue to believe in the importance of strong relationships with all of Iowa's community providers," University Hospital Director and CEO Donna Katen-Bahensky said Thursday. "An exclusive relationship with a single provider or provider network could threaten our ability to discharge our statewide mission. An exclusive arrangement is not part of our strategic thinking."