The University of Iowa Health Care Making a Difference program is designed to recognize individuals who have performed in an exemplary manner, consistent with the goals of service excellence, and with a commitment to quality care.

Over the last three months, members of our department were nominated by colleagues, patients, and patient family members for a variety of actions that have had a major impact. Recognizing others is fast and easy with the Making a Difference nomination form.

Tyler Rasmussen, MD, PhD
Nominated by: Hailey Beck, RN, Staff Member

Dr. Rasmussen is AMAZING to work with. Upon arriving to my shift, I had a patient that had concerning assessment findings. I called him to the bedside and he came immediately with his wonderful ICU knowledge and helped draw labs. I took the patient down to CT and he was waiting for us when we returned to see how our trip went and see if there were any clinical changes since leaving the floor for the scan. He came to the bedside and checked on the patient and I several times overnight to make sure there were no changes and that I had the orders I needed. I’m so thankful for his support, knowledge, and kindness. He went above and beyond and needs to be recognized for
being so great.

Bianca Carlson, PA-C
Nominated by: Terrie James, RN, Staff Member

Bianca is a coworker in the Iowa River Landing building. Yesterday I went out to the ramp to find that I had a completely flat tire. I called AAA. After being on hold for 10 minutes, I found that I could not get help with my tire for 90 minutes to 3 hours. Bianca came out from work, saw my flat tire, and me on hold on my phone. She tapped on my window and offered to pump up my tire with the air compressor she had in her vehicle trunk. She was on a time schedule to pick up her child from daycare. But, she saw that my tire was pumped up enough to get me to the repair shop 5 minutes before their closing time. This was above and beyond. A perfect example of paying it forward.
Bianca made a huge difference in how my day ended!

Julia Klesney-Tait, MD, PhD, and the Lung Transplant Team
Nominated by: E. P., Patient spouse

My husband is going through an evaluation for a lung transplant at your hospital. He has IPF. . . . [H]e was going to have a lung biopsy, because they found some nodules in his right lung. When they got in there, his lung collapsed. Dr Klesney-Tait admitted him to the hospital. When we got up to H floor 7th, we were met by a nurse, whose name was Stacy. The first she said to me was, “Welcome, [E].” Never have I felt safer and more welcome in a hospital, and we have been a lot of places. We since met Steph, Taylor, Norma, and many more. What I am trying to tell you is, that you have an amazing doctor, Klesney-Tait, and her staff. None of them ever left our room without saying, “Is there anything else I can do for you?” With everything we are going through right now, it was amazing to feel we were not alone, but that they all were there for us. Thank you, for the excellent treatment we have gotten at Iowa University Hospital. We would not know what to do without Dr Klesney-Tait, Becca Horan, and Emily Mathews.

Phillip Horwitz, MD, and TAVR staff
Nominated by: J. L., Patient father

I would like to thank Dr. Phillip Horwitz and his team for their incredible work in performing a TAVR procedure on my father: L. D. I would like to thank the support staff who cared for him throughout the evening and until his discharge on Wednesday (Kristina, Kaitlin and the rest of the staff). I would like to thank the numerous teams who were part of the discharge process: OT, PT, Dietician, and many others for their professionalism. Finally I feel I need to apologize. My father is a pretty tough person, but he fears hospitals and is afraid of dying in one. My grandfather, his father, died after a heart valve surgery while in the hospital, so my father gets extremely tense whenever he is a patient. Keep up the good work; we all appreciate the miracles that you perform on a daily basis. I will say a Rosary for your team this evening.

Poorani Sekar, MD
Nominated by: J. L., Patient

I am nominating Dr. Sekar for Making A Difference in treating me for the following reasons: Dr. Sekar is positive in her approach to medicine. From the moment she enters the exam room she demonstrates a very quick intellect and grasp of my past and current issues. Dr. Sekar is helping me find a reason for my infections which have resulted in the removal of right knee prosthesis and my left hip prosthesis by the orthopedic department. She is exceptional at explaining my current issues and takes the time to explain her decision on my next test to help find a reason for my continuous infection. Dr. Sekar makes me feel like I have a Captain in control of my ship and each time I leave the clinic I am filled with greater Hope than I had before. Dr. Sekar approaches medicine with vibrant compassion and caring that I have not known with other physicians. I have placed my trust and faith in her hands to find a solution to my infections. Dr. Sekar is an exceptional Staff Doctor and The University of Iowa Hospital is fortunate to include her on their Staff.