Parents of premature and sick babies born at Genesis Medical Center in Davenport will receive world-class care through a new partnership with University of Iowa Children's Hospital at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

Board-certified neonatologists at University of Iowa Children's Hospital will provide on-site care for babies in the Genesis Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Joel Stenzel, M.D., clinical associate professor of pediatrics in the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, will serve as medical director of the Genesis NICU beginning April 1, 2006.

He will be joined in July by fellow UI faculty member Zahi Zeiden, M.D. Both physicians will practice at Genesis full-time and live in Davenport.

“This is great news for newborn and pediatric patients in the Quad Cities,” said Frank Claudy, M.D., vice president of medical affairs at Genesis Medical Center. “We will have academic-level care available every day to high-risk babies and their families.”

The NICU at University of Iowa Children's Hospital has outcomes for premature babies that are consistently among the top 10 percent of hospitals in the country.