The Department of Internal Medicine is pleased to welcome Eileen Fürstenberg to our Human Resources team as an HR Specialist, effective October 11. Fürstenberg joins us after six years as an HR manager with REAL Solution Inkasso, located in Hamburg, Germany. In that role, she was responsible for a variety of HR-related activities, including employment contract preparation and review, implementation and review of employee benefit packages, and staff recruitment. In addition, she maintained knowledge of a variety of regulations and requirements to be able to advise leadership and staff on remaining within compliance guidelines. One key achievement she cites is the development and implementation of an ISO 9001 quality management process within her HR department.

Before joining REAL Solution, Fürstenberg was a personnel officer with an academy of continuing education in Berlin, where she helped manage recruitment and ongoing quality improvement projects in hiring and retention. She has the equivalent of a master’s degree in educational science from European University in Flensburg and has been formally certified in a number of HR-related disciplines.

The relocation of her spouse to a position with a wind turbine manufacturer brought Fürstenberg to Iowa, but she is looking forward to her own new opportunity with our department. “I am excited to join Internal Medicine at the University of Iowa and looking forward to the new tasks and new challenges in an inclusive environment. I have already begun to familiarize myself with the systems and am grateful for the opportunity to work and learn together with a great team.” Fürstenberg will work alongside Ann Howard, who will gradually transition her responsibilities. We are grateful for Howard’s return and service these last few months.

Clinical Department Administrator Denise Zang, MBA, FACMPE, is equally excited to bring Fürstenberg onto the team. “Eileen immediately impressed me with her enthusiasm and awareness of the challenges of human resources in health care. I know she’s going to make a great addition to our department. Welcome, Eileen!”