The below announcement from Chair & DEO Upi Singh, MD, was sent to the Department of Internal Medicine earlier today. 

Colleagues:

Since its inception, the Division of General Internal Medicine has overseen the diverse needs of outpatient primary care patients as well as the complex management of our hospital’s inpatient population. The delivery of hospital-based care has been led by our talented and dedicated hospitalist team. Hospital medicine subspecialty is recognized nationwide as a distinct and critical component of health care systems. Given its impressive growth and the subspecialty’s diverging needs, we are pleased to announce the establishment of the Division of Hospital Medicine as the Department of Internal Medicine’s newest distinct division.

I am thrilled to announce that this new division will be led by Jeydith Gutierrez, MD, MPH, as an interim division director. Dr. Gutierrez currently serves as the department’s vice chair for Engagement and Belonging as well as the director of the National TeleHospital Medicine Program for the US Department of Veterans Affairs Health System. In each of these roles, she has demonstrated her talents for building effective teams, obtaining research funding, and delivering efficient and compassionate care in innovative ways. I am grateful to Dr. Gutierrez for agreeing to take on this role at this critical time for our department and the health system.

The Division of Hospital Medicine’s effective date is tentatively set for this summer. In the coming months, Dr. Gutierrez will help lead the organization of the division as we focus on growing and supporting its members’ needs at each of UI Health Care’s locations for inpatient care—Medical Center University, Medical Center Downtown, and Medical Campus North Liberty—and beyond. As division director, her other responsibilities will include faculty development, strategic planning, and supporting the research and academic missions of the division.

Dr. Gutierrez will be aided by the Director of Clinical Operations in Hospital Medicine, Bradley Manning, MD, who has served as the director of UI Health Care’s Adult Hospitalist Program. Dr. Manning has been instrumental in leading and supporting our hospitalists and in structuring new programs, most notably during COVID-19’s early uncertain days. In the years since, he has been an important advocate in the recruitment and retention of physicians specializing in hospital medicine. With his leadership and the support of a dynamic team, 17 hospitalist medicine physicians will join UI Health Care in the next several months.

Kevin Glenn, MD, will continue to serve as interim director of the Division of General Internal Medicine, and we remain grateful for his continued service. His division will retain primary care providers, researchers, including our productive health services investigators, and the supportive and palliative care program. We will continue to evaluate the leadership structure in GIM in the coming months.

A special thank you to Chief Medical Officer Theresa Brennan, MD, and her team for their partnership in this reorganization and the many years of support and guidance for the hospitalist program. I know that Dr. Brennan shares our excitement and confidence in the potential of this new division to grow and adapt to the changing health care landscape. Our gratitude as well to leadership within UI Health Care and Carver College of Medicine for their support. We collectively believe that this reorganization will enable our inpatient services to overcome some of our current challenges and to position our institution to meet the challenges of tomorrow.