Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I am pleased to present the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics' annual report for 2002-2003 and am excited about all that we have accomplished. Over the past year I have had the privilege of visiting and meeting many of the leaders in Iowa's communities. This year's report celebrates those communitiesÑour caring internal community of faculty and staff and the many wonderful external communities that we serve and are so vital to our continued success.

While reflecting on my own impressions of the UI Hospitals and Clinics community during my first year as director and CEO, I am struck by the remarkable quality of our faculty, staff, and volunteers. We are fortunate to work with motivated, highly committed people who care deeply about those we serveÉ not only patients from Iowa but also those from other states and from around the globe. These individuals are our most valuable resource, and their tireless efforts have established UI Hospitals and Clinics as one of the premier health care providers in the world.

Our relationships with colleagues, friends, and supporters from outside the organization are equally critical to our success. We value the many significant contributions of our local communityÑfrom the time donated by our volunteers to the relationships fostered with friends, area physicians, and local businesses. We also recognize that UI Hospitals and Clinics is part of an even larger statewide community that includes health care providers, business organizations and leaders, and, of course, all the patients and families we serve. We appreciate the positive, synergistic relationship we have with each of these communities and look to build upon these partnerships as we work with organizations across the country to shape the future of our national health care system.

As we look for ways to better serve our community, we embrace a vision that places patients and their families at the center of all we do. We endeavor to set the standard for patient care quality and to provide a level of extraordinary service that is typically unexpected at institutions as large as ours. Our vision also includes a commitment to being a workplace of choice that fosters a culture of accountability on a foundation of trust, pride, mutual respect, and recognition for jobs well done. In short, we are proud not only of what we do here, but also of how we work together to get it done.

Each day at UI Hospitals and Clinics, compassionate caregivers bring our pursuit of excellence to life through their unwavering devotion to the health and well-being of all our patients, their families, and the many communities we serve. We hope this annual report illustrates some of the ways in which the concept of community plays a central role in what we do.

On behalf of the faculty, staff, and volunteers at UI Hospitals and Clinics, I wish to thank you for supporting our efforts to provide world-class health care to all Iowans and to improve the quality of life in the communities we serve. Thank you for being such an important part of our community ... and for making us a welcome part of yours.

Donna M. Katen-Bahensky
Director and CEO
UI Hospitals and Clinics