Comprehensive, multi-disciplinary care is a hallmark of an academic medical center. The types of patient care provided by University of Iowa Health Care range from routine primary care to sophisticated care of patients with complex and/or rare conditions.
With more than 650 staff physicians, 675 residents and fellows, and a total hospital staff of nearly 8,000, UI Health Care is positioned to handle a range of medical situations. Doctors from across the state and around the world refer patients with complex conditions to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics because of the depth and breadth of the services available.
Longstanding legacies of excellence in otolaryngology, ophthalmology and orthopaedics are joined by emphases on heart and vascular care, cancer care, children’s care and neurosciences service lines. As a leading referral center, UI Hospitals and Clinics is renowned for burn treatment, solid organ and blood and marrow transplantation, bariatric surgery, digestive diseases, high-risk obstetrics and developmental disabilities.
UI Hospitals and Clinics encompass 3.5 million square feet with a total of 684 inpatient beds. Nearly 27,000 inpatient visits were recorded at the hospitals last year. The outpatient clinics had 864,409 patient visits while the Emergency Treatment Center saw nearly 39,000 visits. As an academic medical center, UI Hospitals and Clinics offers state-of-the-art intensive care units, eastern Iowa’s only Level 1 trauma center, the full slate of imaging and radiology services, and the depth and breadth of more than 200 specialty and subspecialty clinical services.
UI physicians and nurses also work with local providers across the state to ensure that Iowans have access to world-class medical care. In addition to the Iowa City health campus, UI Health Care offers primary care clinics in 11 Iowa communities. It also offers 280 outreach clinics in 64 Iowa communities, including child health specialty clinics in 14 communities.
Services provided in outreach clinics are typically consultative. Located in local health care facilities, the clinics use local medical services and laboratory facilities. These outreach clinics supplement and support the care already received by patients within their local health care system.
UI Health Care has a long history of providing health care services to all Iowans, regardless of their ability to pay. From the State Papers program, created in 1915 to the Medicaid, Hawk-I, and Iowa Care programs of today, it has helped cast a safety net to qualifying Iowans whose lives take an unfortunate turn. Its commitment to uncompensated care extends to the residents of our state institutions, including inmates from the Department of Corrections. Regardless of social status or income, everyone benefits from the same level of compassionate, high-quality care.
Partnerships Throughout the State
The three entities of UI Health Care—UI Carver College of Medicine, UI Hospitals and Clinics, and UI Physicians—have forged partnerships with entities across Iowa.
UI Health Care works closely with the other University of Iowa colleges of Dentistry, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Public Health to educate students and conduct research.
Community physicians and UI doctors work together to provide Iowans with health care that is as good as anywhere in the world. Doctors in Iowa cities and towns who have patients with complex or rare conditions consult with UI specialists to develop care plans to address patients’ needs. Local physicians refer their patients to UI specialists who provide care until patients are ready to return home. Community physicians participate in continuing medical education programs offered by UI Health Care.
UI Health Care also plays a unique role in helping policymakers and governmental leaders by gathering, analyzing, and disseminating data. In 2007, the UI Carver College of Medicine undertook a major project to look at the future of the physician workforce in Iowa. Using data gathered by the College for more than 25 years, the report that resulted was the first data-driven analysis of Iowa’s physician workforce and how changes in the health care system might affect supply and demand across the state. Among other findings, the report indicated that Iowa lost physicians more frequently to relocation than retirement.
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