MercyOne this week unveiled its new statewide Maternal Transport Team that will be based at MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center and in concert with MercyOne Air Med.
This service, which pairs specifically trained Neonatal Intensive Care and Maternal teams with their flight team and Emergency Medical Technicians, has been in development over the past year to provide much-needed care, especially in rural areas with fewer obstetricians, or, where obstetrics is unavailable.
A similar program existed in Iowa about 20 years ago, but the service was underutilized because there were significantly more OB providers in the state at the time. In recent years, physician recruitment has become a significant challenge in Iowa, especially in specialty areas like obstetrics.
To read the news release, click here.