At just 8 years old, Aiden Washburn has already undergone several life-saving open-heart surgeries. His parents were first referred to University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital after prenatal tests detected a heart abnormality. “It was definitely not anything we ever expected,” Aiden’s mother, Josie, recalls. “When we found it out, it was pretty devastating.” After a 23-week…

As UI Health Care works to increase access for all Iowans, the organization is actively adopting new, innovative technologies to support its teams, reduce the administrative burden involved with patient care, and enable a stronger connection with patients. To guide the development of UI Health Care’s technology strategy, leaders gathered feedback from clinicians across the organization to…

Researchers from the University of Iowa Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation are investigating the relationship between malnutrition and the loss of muscle and mobility in older adults who had a hip fracture. UI Health Care orthopedic surgeon Michael Willey, MD, in collaboration with researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the Slocum Center for Orthopedics & Sports Medicine,…

Throughout her childhood, Mya Gilchrist spent more than six years undergoing chemotherapy, with her first treatment beginning before she was 2 years old. Her story begins when local doctors diagnosed her poor balance as an ear infection, a common ailment for an 18-month-old toddler. But Mya’s parents, Brooke and David, suspected something more serious. “For me, the breaking point where we…

Pertussis, a respiratory illness, is circulating in our community. Who is vulnerable, how does it spread, and how can we stay healthy? To learn more, we talked to infectious disease expert Melanie Wellington, MD, PhD. People may know pertussis as whooping cough. It is a highly contagious bacterial infection, known for severe coughing that can cause fits or “whooping.” When the coughing fits are…

Passing out and briefly losing consciousness—for a few seconds to a few minutes—can be scary, but it's not necessarily a cause for alarm. Syncope, the medical term for passing out, is usually related to a drop in blood flow to the brain. Many conditions can cause this, and most aren't serious. Vasovagal syncope is the most common type of syncope and is usually not life-threatening. It occurs when…

Entering the world of collegiate sports can be a big leap for any athlete. But for Iowa State University volleyball player Kiersten Schmitt, those challenges were magnified by a mysterious and excruciating condition in her calves that prevented her from playing at full force during her freshman season. The pain had dogged the 18-year-old through high school, but college-level training brought the…

Call it a parent’s intuition. Call it knowing that expert health care happens at University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital. Whatever you call it, Atlas Coleman’s family is forever grateful that a second opinion meant an early diagnosis for their baby’s rare, aggressive cancer. Stacy and Neal Coleman took their son to the emergency room after Atlas suddenly became…

For Keegan Wells, nursing is a family affair. “Both my mom and my grandma were nurses,” says Wells, RN, BSN, a telemetry nurse at University of Iowa Health Care’s downtown campus. “It was my grandma who always said she thought I’d be a good nurse.” While his grandmother died several years ago and his mother has retired, both had several nursing jobs in the Iowa City area during their careers,…