University of Iowa Children's Hospital

History

The hospital was originally founded in 1919.

Firsts

The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics is also where Dr. Ignacio Ponseti developed the Ponseti method. The Ponseti method is a revolutionary non-surgical way to treat congenital clubfoot, which had previously been treated through surgeries to infants or children at a young age. The Ponseti method is a way to treat clubfoot through a series of manipulating bones and tendons in the foot and holding them in place through a series of casts. It is a treatment technique that is still used worldwide to this day.

New facilities

In the fall of 2012, a project began to create a new University of Iowa Children's Hospital. The hospital is located to the west of the original at the site of a former parking structure for University Hospital, overlooking Kinnick Stadium, and is also connected to the hospital and new parking structure. The target completion date for the project was initially set for March 2016, but delays meant that the new facility did not receive its first patients until February 2017; seven of the 14 floors opened at that time while construction on other floors was nearing completion.

The project was estimated to cost approximately $292 million – none of which was funded by tax dollars, however, it ended up being closer to $360 million. The funding was achieved through bonds, patient revenue, and private gifts.

The building is 480,000 square feet of new construction as well as 56,250 square feet of renovated existing space. It contains 14 floors (12 above ground, two below ground). Those 14 floors include a total of 134 beds for patients, those being for Pediatric care, Neonatal, Medical/Surgical Units, Operating Rooms, Infusion/Dialysis Center and finally the Pediatric Cancer Center. The two lower-level floors are where Radiology and Procedure Suites are located.

Recognition

In the 2025-2026 U.S. News & World Report rankings, the hospital was ranked as the top children's hospital in Iowa and #12 in the Midwest. The hospital was recognized as one of the top 50 hospitals in six different specialty areas as well.

The Wave

At the end of the first quarter of every home Iowa Football game, fans, coaches, and players across the street at Kinnick Stadium pause before the next quarter and wave to the pediatric patients at the hospital. Beginning in 2017, the tradition is now referred to as, "The Wave".

Divisions

The following medical divisions are available: General Pediatrics, Family Medicine, Adolescent Medicine, Allergy/Pulmonary diseases, Anesthesia, Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Burn Treatment, Cardiology, Child Abuse and Neglect, Child Health Specialty Clinics, Child Neurology, Child Psychology, Child Psychiatry, Clinical Pharmacology, Continuity of Care, Critical Care, Dentistry, Dermatology, Developmental Disabilities, ECMO, Emergency Care, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Genetics, Hematology, Infectious Diseases, Mother's Milk Bank of Iowa, Neonatology, Nephrology, Neurosurgery, Nuclear Medicine, Nutrition, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Oncology, Ophthalmology, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Orthodontics, Orthopaedic Surgery, Spinal Deformity, Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Speech, Swallowing, Voice, Pediatric Outreach Clinics (Cardiac-Electrophysiology, Cardiology, Cystic Fibrosis, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Hemoglobinopathy, Neurology, Neuromuscular), Radiation Oncology, Radiology, Rheumatology, Special Education, Specialized Child Health Services, Surgery (Pediatric), Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Toxicology, Transplantation Surgery, Trauma Surgery, and Urology.

University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics is in partnership with University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and University of Iowa Children's Hospital which completes the state University of Iowa Health Care.

References

References

1. "Billing, Insurance, and Records".
2. (2021-10-16). "How a Facebook Post Sparked The Hawkeye's Children's Hospital Tradition".
3. Jordan, Erin. (17 February 2018). "Stead Children's Hospital opening shifts to spring".
4. "UIHC planning $154M in NICU, labor and delivery expansion, renovations".
5. "University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital".
6. "Patient Care {{!}} Carver College of Medicine".
7. (2019-09-16). "Pediatric Comprehensive Pain Clinic".
8. (2012-01-10). "Kidney Transplant".
9. "Trauma Centers".
10. "UI Children's Hospital sees bump in neonatology ranking as NICU expands".
11. (8 November 2017). "'The Wave' at Iowa brings sense of community, pride".
12. (2014-11-18). "Worldwide spread of the Ponseti method for clubfoot". World Journal of Orthopedics.
13. "Clubfoot".
14. Miller, Vanessa. (15 October 2015). "UI Children's Hospital taking shape".
15. (14 March 2017). "Patients to move next week into new levels of UI Children's Hospital".
16. Holmes, Angela. (2017-03-27). "All patients moved into UI Stead Family Children's Hospital".
17. Miller, Vanessa. (February 25, 2017). "New University of Iowa Children's Hospital gets first patients". [[The Gazette (Cedar Rapids).
18. Charis-Carlson, Jeff. "UI's new children's hospital holds open house this weekend".
19. Miller, Vanessa. (23 August 2024). "UI Children's Hospital window replacement about one-third done".
20. "University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital." Healthcare Design, vol. 18, no. 7, Aug. 2018, pp. 84+. Gale OneFile: Business, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A550517466/GPS?u=uni_rodit&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=f7d39595. Accessed 7 Mar. 2022.
21. Staff, CBJ News. (2025-10-15). "UI Stead Family Children's Hospital ranks No. 1 in Iowa, earns national recognition".
22. Worth, Cooper. "This Iowa hospital is among the best in the US across multiple specialties. Here's why.".
23. "Holding strong atop Iowa, UI Children's Hospital slips in new national rankings".
24. (2025-09-12). "College football traditions: 'Hawkeye Wave' bonds everyone in stadium with kids in adjacent hospital".
25. (2025-11-24). "The Hawkeye Wave: When empathy becomes part of the care plan".
26. Denton, Evan. (1 October 2025). "UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital patient, family discuss Hawkeye Wave".
27. "University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine".