PACEMAKER: Centennial 1998

From the UIHC Director and CEO

R. Edward Howell

As you will learn by reading this Centennial edition of Pacemaker, we have a lot to celebrate. The UIHC’s history, including our collaborative partnership with Iowa’s community-based physicians and hospitals, is amazing in its breadth and scope.

Accordingly, our theme for the year-100 Years of Caring-acknowledges this proud heritage. University Hospitals’ early history was symbolically visited in the 1897 time capsule I had the pleasure of opening recently, as intended a century ago by our forefathers. These items-including newspaper articles, the original charter of the Mechanics Mutual Aid Association (which built the Mechanics Academy, the first UI teaching and patient care facility), and a copy of the Iowa Historical Record for April 1897-are now on display at the UIHC. Obviously, no one from that era could have imagined the extraordinary advancements that have occurred in health care. Neither can we fully anticipate the innovations awaiting our great, great, great grandchildren, although we will share a sense of today’s world through a time capsule we are preparing for the Bicentennial celebration in 2098.

To acknowledge this special occasion and the spirit of service that distinguishes this institution, we have appointed a 40-member UIHC Centennial Committee to plan a series of special events throughout the year. These events will appropriately acknowledge the UIHC for what it was in 1898-a visionary state commitment to improve standards of patient care and education-and what it is today-one of the nation’s leading academic health care centers. We thank committee members for their dedication to the task, and invite all Iowans to join us in celebrating this heritage of healing and hope.