Iowa Methodist Medical Center

Iowa Methodist Medical Center is the state's largest private hospital. Established in 1901 in a single building, today Iowa Methodist has become an important regional medical center and teaching hospital. Located in downtown Des Moines on a 42-acre campus, Iowa Methodist employs nearly 4,000 people and has 373 staffed beds (not including beds at Blank Children's Hospital). In January 2001, Iowa Methodist marked 100 years of service to central Iowa.

Some of Iowa Methodist's areas of specialization include cancer treatment, cardiac care, maternity and women's services, emergency and trauma treatment, physical rehabilitation, wellness programs, behavioral medicine, surgery, orthopedics, critical care, primary care, older adult services and home health care.

Iowa Methodist is well known throughout the Midwest for cancer care. In 1956 it opened Des Moines' first radiation therapy department. In 1993 the John Stoddard Cancer Center became the first central Iowa facility to house all radiation, oncology and ancillary services in one location. 1993 also saw the launch of the Human Gene Therapy Research Institute, a non-profit canter for cancer education and research involving genetic therapies, the new frontier of medicine. In 1996, it became the nation's first community-based clinical facility to receive FDA approval to produce genetically engineered drugs.

Iowa Methodist performed the first open-heart procedure outside of the Mayo Clinic in 1956 and continues to deliver superb cardiology and vascular care. Our cardiac care team performs hundreds of open-heart surgeries each year, as well as other important procedures to correct valvular and coronary diseases. We offer a complete cardiac care program to diagnose, treat and manage heart problems.

In 1999, Iowa Methodist's Trauma Center was given the top "Level I" designation by the American College of Surgeons. Iowa Methodist is an important trauma and emergency medicine center for all of central Iowa. Life Flight, the air ambulance program for Iowa Methodist, began in 1979 and continues to fly hundreds of vital missions per year.

The Younker Rehabilitation Center is the largest, most comprehensive physical rehabilitation program in central Iowa, providing a wide range of inpatient and outpatient care.

In 1999, a new state-of-the-art maternity center opened at Iowa Methodist, giving new mothers the ability to labor, deliver, recover and have care after birth in one spacious room. There are 23 private LDRP rooms and nine private special care rooms.

Iowa Methodist is also an important regional medical center and teaching hospital. Education has always played an important role at Iowa Methodist. The hospital established its highly regarded School of Nursing in 1901, which trained generations of nurses in Iowa until 1999. Many of its graduates served in the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps during World War II. After the war, Iowa Methodist developed residency programs for training new doctors in pediatrics, surgery and internal medicine, as well as others.

In 1993 Iowa Lutheran Hospital, Iowa Methodist Medical Center and Blank Children's Hospital merged to form Iowa Health System, the largest medical service provider in Iowa. Today Iowa Health System continues to grow, with a goal of providing high quality, accessible medical care to all Iowans.