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The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) is a 762-bed public teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Iowa. UIHC is part of University of Iowa Health Care, a partnership between the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics It is located in Iowa City, Iowa at Melrose Avenue and Hawkins Drive near Kinnick Stadium. At times during televised Hawkeye football games, the hospital can be seen in the background. The hospital is one of three hospitals in Iowa City, the others being Mercy Hospital - Iowa City and the Iowa City VA Medical Center. The hospital is overseen by the Iowa Board of Regents. It is Iowa's only comprehensive, tertiary-level center and also its premier medical facility. In addition to taking care of local patients, people throughout the Midwest are often sent to the University's hospitals for treatment of serious illnesses or injuries.
History The University of Iowa began medical services in 1873 when its medical department entered into an agreement with the Sisters of Mercy to operate a small hospital in the community. Davenport, Iowa physician Washington Freeman Peck and other physicians raised $5,000 to renovate a vacant school building known as Mechanics Academy into a 20 bed hospital. This hospital had two open wards for both men and women, four private rooms, and an amphitheater to perform surgery in. Dr. Peck convinced the Superior of the Davenport-based Sisters of Mercy to send nuns to Iowa City to help care for patients. This arrangement lasted until 1885, when the Sisters moved to a nearby vacant mission and opened Mercy Hospital one year later. It soon became apparent that a new hospital was needed as the University was outgrowing its original facility. In 1896 the state of Iowa approved the needed appropriations in 1896. A 65 bed hospital was built in 1898 where the school's Seashore Hall is now located. This facility was state of the art at the time of its construction, with both electrical lighting and steam heating. The hospital featured a 200 seat amphitheater along for instructional purposes. Following passage of indigent care laws in 1928, patient admissions increased greatly. The current hospital was built in 1928 as a 735 bed hospital. At the time of its construction, the hospital building was one of the largest in the country. National Distinctions UIHC has been named among “America’s Best Hospitals” for the 16th year in a row (U.S. News & World Report, 2005) Nine hospital specialties are among the top 50 in the nation: otolaryngology ( More than 150 UI physicians have been named “Best Doctors in America” by their peers. (Best Doctors in America 2005) Achievements Several advances were pioneered at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. One such advance was the development of modern-day blood banking in 1939. Dr. Elmer L. DeGowin and his team were able to show how to refrigerate, ship and use banked blood. The world’s first horizontal gastroplasty surgery for morbid obesity was performed at the hospital in 1971. In 1982, otolaryngologists were the first in the country to place a multichannel cochlear implant in a person. More recently in 2005, the Center of Excellence in Image-Guided Radiation Therapy, the world’s most advanced radiation oncology treatment center, opened. | ||||||||
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