Methodist West Hospital in West Des Moines is holding its grand-opening ceremonies this weekend.  The 230,000-square-foot, $118 million hospital sits on 49 acres and includes 95 private beds in its five stories.  The new hospital has six operating rooms, a heart catheterization lab, an endoscopy suite, 12 maternity beds and 13 exam/treatment rooms in its emergency department.  Features around the hospital grounds include a lake, healing garden and outdoor dining. 

Two IHA Associate Members played major roles in Methodist West’s construction:  Shive-Hattery was the project architect and the Weitz Company was the construction manager. 

Staff at Methodist West will officially begin seeing patients on October 26.

As the association representing the interests of Iowa hospitals and health systems, we owe many thanks to the great people keeping these organizations moving.

This week we’d like to congratulate the following individuals on their recent achievements:

• Steve Krob joined Iowa Methodist Occupational Health and Wellness as marketing and sales coordinator.
• Katy Hill, a registered nurse, now serves as emergency medical service coordinator at Iowa Health-Des Moines.
• Dr. Ken Cheyne accepted the role of interim medical director for Blank Children’s Hospital.

Thanks to the Des Moines Register for the notifications.

If you’d like to recognize someone for their achievements (or be recognized for your own) on the IHA blog, send us the details.

The mismatch between the skills required for most jobs and the skills of the U.S. workforce is having a significant impact on all businesses and industries, including the health care sector.

Hospitals need reliable ways to measure foundational skills to ensure they are hiring the most qualified, trainable candidates. ACT, a  not-for-profit organization that provides assessment services in the areas of workforce and education, has two products that fit the bill for hospitals: WorkKeys and the National Career Readiness Certificate.

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