I am proud of our amazing UnityPoint Health — Fort Dodge team members today and every day. During this unprecedented year, they have kept the care of our patients and communities first and have accomplished so many great things. As the New Year approaches, I wanted to do a quick year in review.

Of course, a lot of our time and energy at UnityPoint Health was centered on COVID-19 and ensuring our communities receive the care and resources they need throughout the pandemic. And in reflecting back on the year, there are many highlights and accomplishments tied to COVID.

First, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it has truly been a blessing to be a resource to our community as we continue to navigate the pandemic. I am also so very proud of our team’s unwavering commitment on staying up on the latest information, protocols and best practices — and often pivoting quickly — to continue to provide high-quality care for our patients.

This year UnityPoint Health has set records in reimagining various roles and services, so patients could continue to receive safe care. We opened UnityPoint Health Berryhill Center — Behavioral Health Urgent Care, launched virtual waiting rooms and expanded telehealth across all our clinics, just to name a few. It has been exciting to watch how innovative and passionate our team is in living our mission, “to improve the health of the people and the communities we serve.”

Another important highlight worth mentioning is the amazing teamwork that has happened throughout the year. Caregivers and those behind the scenes, have shown their support for one another like never before by picking up additional shifts, working outside their typical department or clinic to fill in where help is needed, bringing in special treats to boost team morale, or just being a shoulder for each other to lean on. We have come together as one team and continue to preserve together.

Lastly, the most recent and historic COVID-19 highlight is the announcement of the vaccine. UnityPoint Health — Fort Dodge administered the first COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 17. We quickly prioritized team members with the highest COVID-19 exposure risk to be offered the first available doses of vaccine and continue to vaccinate as many team members as possible, as quickly as possible. Though the COVID-19 vaccine is not available to the general public at this time, supplies will increase over time, and the vaccine should be available to the general public later in 2021.

COVID-19 highlights and accomplishments alone fill me with pride, but what is even more impressive is knowing the accomplishments were plenty despite COVID. The following is a list of some of the awards our team received this year:

• American Heart Association and American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award

• Trinity’s heart program has achieved Platinum and Gold status

• American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain — MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2020.

• Mission: Lifeline Gold Plus Receiving Achievement Award

• Trinity Wound Healing Center Received Two National Awards for Excellence in Wound Care Services: Robert A. Warriner III, M.D., Clinical Excellence Award and Center of Distinction for Excellence in Wound Care

• Daisy Awards Recipients: Becky Yunginger, RN, CPN, Birth Center, Carol Hodges, RN, Acute Care, and Julie Kruger, RN, Wound Healing Center

• Teri Townsend, ARNP, CPNP, DNP, Pediatrics, was voted as “Best Healthcare Provider” in the 2020 Messenger’s Reader’s Choice survey.

• UnityPoint Health — Fort Dodge was awarded the UnityPoint Health system-wide Patient Experience award

In addition to all things COVID related and the awards our team members earned; we also made some exciting announcements. Here’s a quick snapshot on a few that standout:

• Blank Children’s Hospital Expands Services to UnityPoint Health — Fort Dodge — Blank Children’s Hospital and UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center announced the hiring of five, full-time pediatric nurse practitioners to join the Blank Children’s Hospitalist team to provide inpatient pediatric and newborn nursery care in both Des Moines and Fort Dodge.

• New Chief Nurse Executive — Welcome Kari Jones, BSN, RN, to UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center. Kari served as the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) for Stewart Memorial Community Hospital and McCrary Rost Clinics. Jones brings with her more than 25 years of diverse nursing experience, ranging from Critical Care and Emergency Medicine to Oncology, Hospice and Homecare, including many years of nursing leadership.

• New UnityPoint Clinic Express –New east side location for UnityPoint Clinic Express will be in the new mall development area: Corridor Plaza located at the corner of First Avenue South and South 29th Street.

• Neurology Specialty Returns to Fort Dodge — UnityPoint Health — Fort Dodge in partnership with Center for Neurology, Orthopedics and Spine (CNOS), brings back local neurology care to the Fort Dodge community. CNOS neurologist, Dr. William Andrews, began seeing patients at UnityPoint Clinic Kenyon Road in Fort Dodge the first and third Friday of the month. The clinic will also include additional advance practitioner coverage as the clinic grows.

• Welcome Dr. Anand, Full-Time Orthopedic Physician — UnityPoint Health — Fort Dodge and CNOS welcomed Dr. Prashanth Anand, Orthopaedic Surgeon. Dr. Anand is a Fellowship Trained Orthopaedic Surgeon. He is an orthopaedic generalist with a strong arthroplasty and sports medicine background. Dr. Anand will be working full-time at UnityPoint Clinic Orthopedics in Fort Dodge.

• UnityPoint Health Increases Minimum Pay Rate to $15 Per Hour–UnityPoint Health announced the organization is increasing its minimum pay rate to $15 per hour, recognizing the critical role support and other frontline team members play in the health system’s mission.

• Welcome Dr. Chris Hill, as the regional Medical Director of Emergency Medicine.

• UnityPoint Health Announces Two Key Executive Leadership Appointments:

• Clay Holderman named President and CEO of UnityPoint Health,effective mid-February 2021

• Sanjeeb Khatua, MD, named President and CEO of UnityPoint Clinic, effective January 5, 2021

In 2020 we have not only experienced the unimaginable, we have achieved the unimaginable. There is a lot to celebrate from 2020, as we move into 2021. On behalf of UnityPoint Health — Fort Dodge, we wish you a happy and healthy holiday season!

Leah Glasgo is president and CEO of UnityPoint Health — Fort Dodge