The last year has been a year like no other, especially in the healthcare industry. There have been difficulties but also remarkable successes. This has been true at Iowa Specialty Hospitals and Clinics (ISH) as well. In light of all that has happened in the last year, the hospital recently honored two extraordinary physicians that stepped to the forefront over the past year.
At the beginning of the award ceremony last week, ISH CEO Steve Simonin said, “The year 2020 at Iowa Specialty Hospital, as with every health care organization, has been nothing short of harrowing and remarkable. Because of awesome leadership, we came through and managed to stay afloat. To be able to claim this type of success, however, an organization must be filled with great employees who go out of their ways daily to build a culture that sustains.” He went on to present Dr. Michael McLoughlin with the Helmsman Award while Dr. Dan Gabrielson received the Innovators Award.
Helmsman Award
Simonin explained what the Helmsman Award signifies. “A ‘helmsman,’ according to the dictionary, is the person who steers the ship. This award goes to a person or persons who raised the bar in their areas and blazed a path showing others the way.”
The CEO went on to introduce the award winner. “This year, this honor goes to an individual who provided a calm, steady hand through one of the worst storms possible. This person over the past year has not only assumed the leadership of the COVID-19 storm but also the helm of the medical staff and public health. Thank you to Doctor Michael McLoughlin for your calm steady leadership during this time and for believing in us and lifting us up when we needed it,” Simonin stressed.
McLoughlin said his role ‘helming the ship’ for ISH was never something originally planned. He explained that like many physicians, he had been tracking the progression of COVID for a few months before it became a concern in the U.S. “I knew when the virus became widespread in Iran, a country that doesn’t really have the systems to stop its progression, it was going to be a worldwide problem.”
Within weeks, McLoughlin was communicating with officials and other healthcare providers at ISH to get plans in place. “I guess I just fell into that role, but I wanted us to be proactive.” And he certainly was that. In the next months, McLoughlin was working with county officials, nursing homes, the cities, and schools on virus mitigation, health and safety. In the midst of that, he also assumed the medical director position on the Wright County Board of Public Health.
The doctor described the learning curve over the last year. “Remember, this is a new virus,” McLoughlin said. “There was a lot of work learning about it throughout this process. There have been a lot of long nights.”
McLoughlin admits there have been bumps in the road and that it was sometimes difficult to see the distrust of healthcare professionals and science throughout the last year. But overall, he says he has been very pleased with how ISH and the county has weathered the storm. “In spite of it being a lot of work, I really feel good about how the communities have responded, including the schools, towns and everyone else who have worked together. It's just really neat as a small hospital system seeing how we can pivot and meet the needs of the community.”
Dr. McLoughlin said he is proud to have received the award. “It was nice to be recognized, but there are a lot of people who deserve credit,” he added.
In the next year, McLoughlin looks forward to seeing the COVID vaccines widely distributed to the point he has time to slow down a bit. He and his wife, Dr. Andrea McLoughlin, are expecting their second child next month. “I’m just looking forward to being a dad,” the doctor emphasized. “This last year has helped me refocus on the things that are important in life. I hope it’s been the same for everyone else.”
Wrapping up, CEO Simonin, added about McLoughlin, “Your attention to all facets of the disease from prevention to care, and the perseverance and patience you showed in educating the masses are so appreciated. Thank you for your guidance.”
Innovators Award
The Innovators Award was a new one for ISH this year. Simonin noted, “At Iowa Specialty, we're always excited about new growth opportunities. An ‘innovator’ is a person or group that introduces something new or does something different for the first time. A true pioneer is an innovator who always pushes the boundaries and follows his or her visions.”
Simonin went on to explain the background of the award’s winner, Dr. Dan Gabrielson and his practice at ISH. “In 2005, we were very lucky to have a local guy come back to Wright County and provide C-section coverage to a hospital that was doing about 70 to 80 babies a year. In 2009, Dr. Gabrielson decided because of the continued success, the Gabrielson Clinic for Women (GCW) and outside clinics would become a reality. As the clinics were built and staff was increased, the word spread throughout North Central Iowa that this was indeed a place to have your baby. I remember Dr. G telling me that we’d possibly do 300 babies a year sometime soon and I thought, OK, that's a lot of babies. Then last year, in 2020, we delivered 508 babies. Wow!”
Gabrielson said everything he and ISH have accomplished has been in an effort to put patients first. “I think it has now become a bit cliché, but the honest answer is nobody in healthcare was really doing this!” He adds that moms and women are really central to healthcare and that that is what they focused on as they built up GCW and expanded OBGYN care at ISH.
Gabrielson muses on how far they have come in the last decade plus. “In 2012, we opened the GCW Clear Lake location,” he explained. “Since this endeavor, we have had midwives, our own ultrasound team, more OBGYNs, more nurses, more locations, allowed VBACs, supported FP/OB and peds, aesthetics, dermatology and always tried to do it with sincerity, availability, and confidence for all of our mammas.”
Over the years, Gabrielson reminisces on telling those around him how many babies they would one day deliver at ISH. At first it was 200, then 300. “Fast forward to 2020, the worst year on record for many, plenty of lives lost and we should all take that seriously,” Gabrielson stresses, “But within all that destruction, we somehow managed to add 508 lives to 2020. If someone can find another hospital in a town of 3000 people to do that, I would lose a bet.”
Gabrielson recognized the many people around him that contributed to his personal success and the success of ISH. They include Drs. Hill and McIntire, his trusted nurse Paula Kruger and nurse practitioner Krista Ysker, and many others.
Simonin summed up Gabrielson’s leadership and tendency toward risk-taking. “Dr. G was the innovator behind this [record-breaking number of deliveries]. He was the pioneer who saw the possibility and made it a reality. Boundaries were pushed.”
