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About Us

Welcome to the University of Iowa Department of Emergency Medicine! We are committed to clinical and academic excellence and are dedicated to the constant improvement of emergency care in Iowa through research and outreach education. Our mission is simple: “A great place to receive care, to provide care and to learn care.”

Our main emergency department currently contains:

  • 44 total beds with 39 private treatment rooms
  • 6 private pediatric rooms
  • 3 trauma bays
  • 1 dedicated room for head/neck emergencies
  • 4 “fast track” or triage rooms

We manage 50,000 patient visits per year while admitting approximately 4 out of every 10 patients. Our faculty coordinate thousands of Emergency Department and inpatient transfers every year. We receive over 1100 patients by helicopter transfer each year. Because we are staffed by board-certified Emergency Medicine physicians, we can evaluate, treat, and stabilize an almost unlimited number of health conditions. Thanks to our phenomenal medical and surgical consultants, we can provide definitive treatment quickly and efficiently, with a focus on the patient experience. Our colleagues in AirCare will quickly and safely transport critical patients to our hospital for treatment from nearly all corners of the state—and beyond.

The department is also dedicated to our mission of education. We boast:

  • 30 total Emergency Medicine physician residents in Iowa’s oldest EM residency. Our residents develop the skills to handle any type of emergency confidently and comprehensively.
  • The nation’s oldest and first accredited APP post graduate training program.
  • A robust EMT and paramedic education program, educating nearly half of Iowa’s paramedics through our EMSLRC.
  • An extremely active research group with a robust portfolio of basic science, health services and clinical research. Areas of focus include telehealth, injury prevention, social medicine, toxicology/addiction medicine, EMS, and ultrasound to name a few.

We also actively manage an Emergency Department in Washington, IA and are currently in the process of building a new facility in North Liberty, IA. All of this to provide timely and more accessible care for Iowa and beyond.

We are committed to the recruitment, support, and promotion of underrepresented in medicine (URiM) trainees, graduates, and faculty.  We are building and growing, and eager to add to our already stellar Emergency Medicine community.

We are also committed to improving medical care for all Iowans. We are committed to helping and supporting our community partners throughout the state.

Please explore our website and see all that we have to offer. We hope that you will not need us. But if you do, we will outperform your expectations in every way.

Andrew S. Nugent, MD, MHA, FACEP
Chair and Department Executive Officer
Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine
Department of Emergency Medicine