Elevating the Iowa brand

I was thinking about the phrase “the best-kept secret” and how people mean it to be a compliment. You might hear it in reference to a restaurant that has incredible dessert. “If everyone knew how good this apple strudel is, if it wasn’t such a secret, it’s all anyone would talk about.” But I doubt the restaurant wants to be a secret though! They might prefer the secret get out. Similarly, I’ve heard life in Iowa City described as a well-kept secret. If people knew just how good it is here, they might be scanning the real estate listings tomorrow. An article in CNN a couple weeks ago touted Iowa City as one of “America’s Best Towns to Visit,” so it seems like the secret is starting to get out. This follows nicely on Iowa City being named one of the best US cities to live in last year. The writer of this more recent praise focuses on Iowa City’s literary and arts culture, especially downtown, but it does not take long before our “medical faculty” gets a mention too.

And it is a well-deserved shout-out! The excellence I regularly see on display at UI Health Care has consistently impressed me. Recently I have been impressed by a few standout examples of patient care within Internal Medicine. Dr. Bryan Struck has built upon a strong foundation of supportive and palliative care (SPC) services, which does so much more for patients than just end-of-life care. The way that the team helps patients and families synthesize complex information is such a net positive in patient care. They help patients talk through and understand available options, even at initial diagnosis. And by setting those clear goals, they help everyone, including the care teams, reach satisfying and realistic outcomes. I am certain that the team’s recertification bid with the JCO will be just as successful as the one that established Iowa as among the first in the nation. You can read a recent interview with Dr. Struck here.

I was also impressed by the coverage that Dr. Paari Dominic and the EP team received by Becker’s Hospital Review this week. They have smartly expanded our cardiac services at Iowa to make advancements in electrophysiology treatments available to more Iowans. According to one estimate, as many as 90,000 Iowans have atrial fibrillation, just one of the arrhythmias that EP can correct. Add in the even more common heart failure and other complex rhythm disorders and the need for the expansion and expertise in our Heart and Vascular Center is clear. Our thanks to Dr. Dominic and his growing team for their efforts to meet that need. And of course, the expansion of ERCP by our GI faculty and staff was well covered last month by Drs. Munish Ashat and Abdullah Abbasi. If you need a refresher on their dramatic increases in access and staffing, outstanding scholarship, and commitment to quality and safety, you can watch that presentation here.

Photo for reflection
What do these units all have in common? What has made them successful? When we zoom in close, we can see patterns replicated like this dandelion seed. It is delicate and easily overlooked, but when you get in close the filaments that carry it on the breeze are resilient, built for one purpose. What are the filaments in SPC, EP and ERCP? I think these teams are composed of members who can see a need, whether it is a backlog of demand or a new technology unused, and refuse to give up till that need is met. That persistence is belied by a patience. They know they won’t get everything right on the first try, but their trust in themselves and the experience of those around them reassure them that eventually they will get it right. Each in their own ways and in so many other units throughout the department and all of UI Health Care, they are refusing to remain a well-kept secret. They are elevating the brand.

Upi’s “Oh, WOW” moment
A couple days ago, I was fortunate to attend a farewell party for Denise Floerchinger, who retired on Wednesday after forty years of service to UI Health Care. She spent the last dozen or so years of those decades at Iowa as part of our education team. As the fellowship programs administrator, she ensured the success of nearly 20 sets of fellows in all our subspecialty training programs every year. Whether it was guiding a program through the accreditation process or helping programs meet their recruitment goals, Denise was there for them all at every step. It was wonderful to see so many colleagues both from within the department and others within the college stop by to congratulate and thank her for her cheerful and competent presence day after day. How wonderful, as well, that her family came to celebrate with her and get a small sense of just how much she was valued here and how much she will be missed. Congratulations, Denise, and we will see you soon!