Iowa Methodist Medical Center
Iowa Methodist Medical Center, a service of UnityPoint Health - 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 one of two Level I Trauma Centers in the state of 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.
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.