A technology meant to enhance patient safety for newborns is launching at University of Iowa Health Care’s downtown campus. UI Health Care Medical Center Downtown recently integrated CertaScan technology into its neonatal care services. This advanced technology allows for the digital scanning of newborn footprints, providing a precise and permanent record that can be used for identification…

Jill Droste used to call it her “gazillion-dollar idea.” But the operating room nurse at University of Iowa Health Care had no idea how to turn her idea — creating something that would protect the base of a surgical table from fluids and foreign matter during surgery — into an actual product. Thanks in part to the Iowa Nurse Innovators program at the University of Iowa, Droste is now testing a…

Iowans should be on their guard outside during winter months, particularly against damage to the nose, ears, toes, and fingers, explains Hans R. House, MD, an emergency medicine physician at UI Health Care. Several factors determine how much damage is done by the cold, he notes. Temperature, dampness, and the duration of exposure are among factors, of course, but, also, immobility of the victim-…

One year ago, University of Iowa Health Care completed the acquisition of Mercy Iowa City hospital and community clinics, preserving local access to health care for tens of thousands of people and continuing a legacy of service that dates back to 1873. “It was vital to preserve these essential health care services for our community,” says Denise Jamieson, MD, MPH, the UI vice president of medical…

Do you know someone who would make a great Kid Captain? Since 2009, Kid Captain has been a partnership between University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital and the Iowa Hawkeyes, featuring stories of strength, courage, and inspiration. If your child has a life-changing story, consider nominating them for the 2025 Kid Captain program. Nominations are open until Friday, March 7,…

Often with a cancer diagnosis, patients are advised that treatment may be more of a marathon than a sprint. No one took this counsel to heart more than Steve Pruisner. During his three-week stay last fall on the adult stem cell transplant unit at University of Iowa Health Care’s university campus medical center, he literally walked a marathon. Four of them, actually. More than 110 miles, step by…

As Owen Trampe stood at the end of his 2,650-mile journey on the Pacific Crest Trail, he reflected on the hundreds of thousands of steps it had taken to get there. And while he certainly had faced challenges along the way, no step was as difficult as a few he took five years earlier. “The hardest thing I have ever done was stand and take those first couple of steps after coming around from…

Winter can be a slow time for blood donations at the University of Iowa Health Care DeGowin Blood Center. Things like bad weather or sickness may prevent someone from donating blood. Unfortunately, patients don’t get a break from needing blood, something Coralville resident Ray Haas realized 50 years ago. “In August 1974 my four-year-old brother became an amputee,” says Haas. “After he received…

For many women diagnosed with breast cancer, the diagnostic period—the time between the screening mammogram and the start of treatment—is often filled with uncertainty, anxiety, and distress. One patient compared the feeling to an inner tube being popped. “First you get popped, then your head explodes, and everything floats around like in cartoons,” they write. “You don’t know what’s happening to…