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…

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,…

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…

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…

Julia Peterson remembers a cardiology nurse clacking away at a computer keyboard just outside the hospital room of her 8-month-old son, Wesley. Having been at Stead Family Children’s Hospital for nearly four months for Wesley’s failing heart, Julia knew the daily routine. And this nurse didn’t usually come to the pediatric intensive care unit in the mornings. As Wesley lay in bed with a special…

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…

When a dangerous pathogen threatens public health, UI Health Care’s Special Pathogen Unit (SPU) stands ready to respond. Designed with state-of-the-art infection control and isolation, this unit is able to transform a portion of the Surgical and Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit at our university campus into a secure biocontainment care space equipped to handle highly infectious diseases. “We’re…