The Emergency Treatment Center is one of two resource trauma care facilities in Iowa under a new system that serves seriously injured patients.

Robert Kelch, M.D., dean of UI College of Medicine, becomes vice president for statewide health services at UI, succeeding John Colloton, who is retiring.

A new UI Pediatric Nephrology Outreach Consultation Clinic provides a full complement of pediatric nephrology diagnostic services to Mason City area residents.

February 2001

UI Health Care's plans for a new Craniofacial Anomalies Research and Clinical Center receive approval from the Board of Regents, State of Iowa.

Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers are developing a new treatment for prostate cancer using heat generated by magnetic rods to destroy the cancer.

March 2001

A revised version of www.uihealthcare.com, features more color, more photos, and much simpler navigation than the previous University of Iowa Health Care web site.

Voting members of the bargaining unit represented by Service Employees International Union ratify a two-year contract calling for an across-the-board salary increase plus additional salary increases to recruit and retain health care professionals.

Voting members of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal employees ratify a two-year contract that provides additional salary growth opportunities for Merit staff in the second year of the contract.

Linda Everett, Ph.D., director of nursing services and patient care, is accepted into an elite program for nurse executives at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Radiation oncologists at UI Hospitals and Clinics perform the first ultrasound-guided extracranial radiosurgery procedure for a patient with a metastatic tumor.

April 2001

Board of Regents, State of Iowa, approves creation of a new Department of Radiation Oncology. The department is headed by John Buatti, M.D.

"Celebration of Hope" dinner honors local service leaders in the fight against Huntington's disease.

HomeSafe, an assistance program for elders supported by the UI College of Nursing and the UI Hospitals and Clinics Department of Nursing Services and Patient Care, expands its services statewide.

In conjunction with Kick Butts day, the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center and University of Iowa Children's Hospital develop posters featuring teenagers with graphic illustrations of the ravages of nicotine.

Mt. Sinai-New York University names its clubfoot treatment center in honor of UI Health Care orthopaedic surgeon Ignacio Ponseti, M.D., a clubfoot treatment pioneer.

May 2001

UI Hospitals and Clinics opens a new Hospital Dentistry Institute to replace facilities in the 1928 General Hospital and provide comprehensive dental care to patients in advanced new accommodations.

UI Health Care researchers collaborate with Samsung SDS on a "telehealth system" that may eventually benefit elderly patients in long-term care facilities.

UI Community Medical Services, Inc. closes UI Family Care, Ottumwa.

June 2001

University Hospital School (since renamed Center for Disabilities and Development) dedicates a new clinic for people with disabilities in the name of Alfred Healey, M.D.

Although a five-year, $65-million cost-cutting effort was painful, it kept UI Hospitals and Clinics out of the red, said R. Edward Howell, director and CEO, in a report to the Board of Regents, State of Iowa.

UI Community Medical Services, Inc. closes a primary care clinic in Tipton.

Getting by...with a little help from his friends

You name it and it seems like 50-year-old Timothy Habel of Dubuque, Iowa, has had to deal with it-end-stage heart disease, severe pancreatitis, benign tumor of the colon, gallstones, depression. His ailments forced him to quit his job several years ago. Fortunately, Habel has benefitted from University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics' Care Management Program, which provides care coordination and case management services for patients who qualify for the state's indigent care program. As a result of treatment received at UI Hospitals and Clinics, he is no longer oxygen-dependent. "I wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for the people here," he says. In turn, Habel has found a way to be useful to others by writing informative articles for two newsletters targeted to elderly audiences. "I love doing it and I think the information I provide is really useful to people," he said.