Today is World AIDS Day and here at University of Iowa Health Care we are proud of the decades of care we have provided people living with AIDS and HIV. Four years ago, we profiled the founder and director of the first HIV Clinic in the state of Iowa, Jack Stapleton, MD, and his team’s involvement with the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS program. You can read that story here.
Two years ago, on the 30th anniversary of the clinic’s founding, Stapleton and the other members of the Ryan White Team were honored by the City of Iowa City with a Human Rights Award. “Since the beginning,” Stapleton said at the time, “we’ve put the patient as the most important part of the program and feel that we’ve done our best to improve the lives of people living with HIV and AIDS.” Our coverage of that award is here.
Last year, Tricia Kroll, LMSW, the Ryan White Program Manager, received the university’s Susan C. Buckley Distinguished Achievement Award for Staff. At the UI’s Celebration of Excellence and Achievement Among Women, Kroll delivered a moving acceptance speech which can be seen here:
Today, we recognize all of our providers within UI Health Care working in this field, including Brooks Jackson, MD, MBA, Vice President for Medical Affairs and the Tyrone D. Artz Dean, Carver College of Medicine, who has also dedicated his research and clinical career to the study of HIV/AIDS. Jackson spoke with The Loop today about his work and the ongoing work of our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force.