The University of Iowa Health Care Making a Difference program is designed to recognize individuals who have performed in an exemplary manner, consistent with the goals of service excellence, and with a commitment to quality care.
Over the last few months, members of our department were nominated by colleagues, patients, and patient family members for a variety of actions that have had a major impact. Recognizing others is fast and easy with the Making a Difference nomination form.
April Haven
Nominated by: D. T., Patient’s Family
My husband has been suffering with globus sensation issues for 6 months and we’ve been frustrated by the referral process, which prevented us from seeing a GI specialist for over 2 months now. My husband was at the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology for an endoscopy, despite the fact that we still hadn’t been able to see a GI specialist. April was assigned to prep my husband for his endoscopy and I was at his side, upset that no one had been able to get us an appointment. Even my husband’s GP was dragging her feet with the process. April noticed my expression immediately and asked very calmly if there is anything she could do to help. She gave me her email address and a big hug, letting me know that she cares and that she will personally figure out what needs to be done to get us a referral. I’m happy to report that we are waiting to hear from the GI specialists about a future appointment. This couldn’t have happened without April’s compassion and insistence that we continue to ask for a referral until we get one. Her sympathy, understanding and energy were exactly what we needed that day. Thank you, April!
Poorani Sekar
Nominated by: B. S., Patient
So often when you are in a large hospital, you feel like you’re just a number. My experience with Dr. Sekar was quite the contrary. The minute she walked into the room I felt at ease. She was very professional as well as very personable. She explained my health issues and answered all my questions. I never felt rushed. She ordered some tests, and that afternoon, she personally called me with my results. I was very impressed.
Amanda Schaaf‐Kleppe
Nominated by: Poorani Sekar, Staff Member
Amanda works as an administrative support specialist in the medicine specialty clinic and her primary role is scheduling patients for their appointments. Quite often there are patients who make several trips to UIHC, often traveling for many hours when they have been scheduled by a centralized scheduling entity. When Amanda is scheduling these patients she is extremely thoughtful and goes above and beyond to ensure that the patient’s several appointments are coordinated to happen on the same day. To ensure this she communicates tirelessly with the providers, other scheduling departments, radiology services, etc. She also ensures that when new consults are scheduled that records are obtained to ensure that the provider has sufficient information prior to the visit. When imaging studies are needed to determine course of treatment she tries to get those studies scheduled on the same day as their appointment so that we can make a decision based on the results. Without Amanda we would not be able to be able to do our jobs efficiently. Thank you, Amanda.