Caring for our community 140 years

UnityPoint Health — St. Luke’s Hospital is celebrating 140 years of caring for our community. On May 7, 1884, our cornerstone — which now resides in St. Luke’s Chapel — was laid. On our first day caring for patients as a 15-bed hospital, our founders made a promise to provide, “the best health care available, at the least possible cost to the patient.”

Many of Cedar Rapids’ medical firsts happened at St. Luke’s. Doctors performed the first C-section delivery, the first total joint replacement surgery and opened the city’s first Intensive Care Unit (ICU). St. Luke’s also has been and continues to be a pioneer in heart care, with the first open heart surgery in 1978 and first heart stent procedure.

We are committed to providing the most comprehensive and cutting-edge heart and vascular care for Eastern Iowans along with our partners at PCI. And we are currently in the middle of a $25 million heart and vascular services expansion project. This project, which is slated to finish in 2025, will allow us to continue meeting the growing need for heart care in the area.

At St. Luke’s patients are at the center of all we do. Our ultimate purpose is to provide the best outcome for every patient every time. We are committed to continually striving to improve patient safety and the quality of care we provide.

Reports on quality measures like Hospital Compare from the Centers for Medicaid Services (CMS) are a tool that provides information, which helps patients compare the quality-of-care hospitals provide.

St. Luke’s is proud to be the only Cedar Rapids hospital to receive an overall 5-star rating from CMS. We are one of eight hospitals in Iowa that received the highest rating from CMS.

According to CMS, the overall rating shows how well each hospital performed on an identified set of quality measures compared to other hospitals in the U.S. The more stars, the better a hospital performed and it’s better for patients.

Each year, St. Luke’s Hospital is among the nation’s Best Regional Hospitals, according to U.S. News and World Report. The publication also ranked St. Luke’s high performing in seven adult procedures and conditions they include: heart bypass surgery, heart attack, stroke, pneumonia, prostate cancer surgery and hip and knee replacement.

St. Luke’s is also a Magnet Hospital for Nursing Excellence. We are in an elite group of only about 2% of hospitals that have received this designation four times and less than 10% of registered hospitals have earned Magnet status. St. Luke’s is the only hospital in Cedar Rapids to have earned this prestigious honor.

Over the years, we’ve grown — a lot. St. Luke’s has introduced new facilities, technologies, and services. As part of UnityPoint Health, we offer community members a complete continuum of care, from clinics to St. Luke’s, to post-acute care, to expansive behavioral health services through AbbeHealth and more.

As we look back on our first 140 years, we express our gratitude to community leaders, residents, providers and our team members who helped shape St. Luke’s what it is today, and what it will be for years to come — an exceptional place to receive health care in Cedar Rapids. We are proud to be part of this community, a founding member of the MedQ District and consider it a privilege to serve you.

Here’s to caring for many more generations to come.

Casey Greene is president of UnityPoint Health — Cedar Rapids. Kate Minette is board chair of UnityPoint Health — St. Luke’s Hospital.