Iowa Methodist Medical Center
Iowa Methodist hospital in Des Moines was
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 370 staffed beds.
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.
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.
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.
Younker Rehabilitation Center is the
largest, most comprehensive physical rehabilitation program in central
Iowa, providing a wide range of inpatient and outpatient care.
The maternity center at Iowa Methodist gives
new mothers the ability to labor, deliver, recover and have care after
birth in one spacious room.
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.