Patient Care

Delivering help to address Iowa’s obstetric care needs
Apr. 22, 2024 | medicineiowa.org
One by one, hospital obstetric units are disappearing across Iowa, creating potentially dire consequences for pregnant mothers and their babies. Since 2000, 31 Iowa counties—most of them rural—have closed their obstetric services. By 2020, just 46 of the state’s 99 counties had at least one hospital that provided obstetric services, down from 77 counties in years prior. “We’re seeing an increase…
New treatments help patients with heart rhythm disorders
Apr. 20, 2024 | medicineiowa.org
Advanced electrophysiology procedures and techniques at Iowa offer new options for patients with heart rhythm disorders. When Keeli Frerichs arrived at University of Iowa Heart and Vascular Center with a perilously low heart rate, the collegiate soccer star just wanted to get back on the playing field.
500 patients benefit from blood thinner alternative
Apr. 17, 2024 | uihc.org
In 2011, University of Iowa Health Care researchers began evaluating the use of a coin-sized device designed to benefit patients who were diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (Afib) and didn't do well on blood thinners. Now, UI Health Care has completed 500 left atrial appendage occlusion procedures effectively decreasing the risk of stroke for those patients by 80%.
Arnold Menezes: Five decades of excellence at Iowa
Apr. 11, 2024 | uihc.org
What defines a legend? While the term is often applied to individuals who achieve even a modest level of success, a true legend transcends their accomplishments and awards. They challenge the status quo, upend preconceived notions and stereotypes, and change lives through their ideas and their actions. Arnold Menezes, MBBS, is a legend.
Standard safety measures for visitors, face masks now in place
Apr. 11, 2024 | uihc.org
To protect the health of our patients, their families, and our employees, University of Iowa Health Care has modified visitor guidelines in place. Visitor Ages, any visitor under the age of 14 must always be supervised by an adult. Visiting hours for all inpatient units are from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Face masks are optional for all in our facilities, except for those who have symptoms of a respiratory…
Marion swimmer back in the water after care with UI Sports Medicine
Apr. 08, 2024 | uihc.org
Twelve-year-old Kennedee Gates, of Marion, Iowa, dove right into swimming when she started in 2023, practicing five or six days a week. While Kennedee’s intentions were good, the result wasn’t. She was diagnosed with impingement syndrome, also called swimmer’s shoulder, in both shoulders—a condition in which a tendon or other connective tissue rubs against the shoulder blade. For Kennedee, it…
Team of Hawkeyes steps in to help an injured volunteer
Apr. 04, 2024 | uihc.org
Rania Schreiber, MSN, RN, a nursing practice leader with UI Health Care, was walking her usual route to her car after work on Feb. 7 when she saw a woman headed past her with visible injuries on her face. The woman was Mary Ellen Lewis, a volunteer at UI Health Care, who had fallen on the sidewalk near Duane Banks Field and was now trying to wipe up the blood with some napkins. “Mary Ellen’s face…
UI Health Care prepares to sell Kalona clinic to WCHC
Mar. 27, 2024
UI Health Care is preparing to sell a clinic facility, located at 503 3rd St., Kalona, to Washington County Hospitals and Clinics (WCHC), pending approval by the Iowa Board of Regents. The proposed sale will enable the residents of Kalona and adjoining communities to be served by both UI Health Care and WCHC. "UI Health Care and WCHC have a long history of collaborating to care for the residents…
UI helping Iowa’s community hospitals improve cancer care
Mar. 26, 2024 | stories.uiowa.edu
By many measures, cancer care at St. Anthony Regional Hospital in west central Iowa is going well. The 99-bed hospital located in Carroll, Iowa, a community of 10,000, opened an adjacent cancer center in 2020. It offers medical oncology, radiation oncology, and infusion therapies and draws some 15,000 patients a year from a 17-county area. But Lori Pietig, the hospital’s director of cancer…
Spine surgery helps young golfer get back in the swing
Mar. 25, 2024 | uihc.org
In summer 2023, 17-year-old Jackson Webber enjoyed a sunny day on the golf course with Cassim Igram, MD, an orthopedic surgeon with University of Iowa Health Care. When the two first met, in January 2021, it was under very different circumstances. Jackson, who lives in Peosta, Iowa, had been goofing around in the snow with his friends when he tried to do a front flip off an electrical box. The…