UI Health Care celebrates 6 months serving patients at North Liberty campus

What are your most proud accomplishments since opening day?

Marsh: At the same time we are taking care of patients and their families in this amazing facility, we are training future generations of health care providers and advancing the state of knowledge through cutting-edge research within the walls of this new specialty hospital.

O'Deen: Without question, I am most proud of the dedication, expertise, collaboration, and positive, caring spirit of our team of world-class faculty and staff who have brought our new campus to life.

Ward: We are providing improved access to care and are able to see patients and meet their needs more quickly. I'm also incredibly proud of the culture our solid, professional, and incredibly competent teams have built.

What are some of the biggest challenges you have overcome over the last six months?

Marsh: A lot of work has gone into determining which surgical patients are best cared for in this specialty-focused hospital vs. at the university campus. We have learned that the majority of orthopedic surgical patients can be cared for at the North Liberty campus, with only a small number of cases needing to be sent to the university campus.

O'Deen: Recruiting, onboarding, and orienting all of the staff required to operate our new campus was a huge lift, given pervasive health care workforce shortages across our country, but we accomplished it and are now fully staffed and functioning smoothly.

Ward: Our teams have learned to come together quickly, solve issues, and get back to the work at hand. Collaboration has been key.

What has surprised you most about the past six months?

Marsh: I am impressed at how quickly and smoothly we have been able to transition our large orthopedics practice to this new world of delivering care at the North Liberty campus.

O'Deen: While we made projections about patient volumes, the reality is that our clinic, ED, imaging, and physical therapy visits as well as the number of surgical cases has already far exceeded our estimates. We are seeing patients travel from throughout the Midwest and country to receive expert orthopedic care at our new campus.

Ward: Our ED volumes are almost double what we anticipated. Our team has really embraced the strong patient volumes and have worked to ensure we meet the needs of the community. Additionally, our ED is leading the country with its patient experience scores.