University of Iowa Health Care has launched a clinic that will provide outpatient care to Iowans exposed to toxic substances.
Doctor Daniel McCabe is the director of Medical Toxicology at UIHC and also the medical director of the Iowa Poison Control Center. “There’s been multiple providers in our area for years that have called us – both at the University of Iowa and Iowa Poison Control Center – and have asked, can you see this person in-clinic and we’ve always had to respond in the past, ‘There is no clinic,’” McCabe says.
He says physicians in the state are treating around 30 poisoned patients at any given time. “This has honestly been a request for decades from our providers,” he says. The hope is the clinic in Iowa City will help improve care for patients with poison exposures ranging from adverse reactions to medication or exposure to heavy metals like cobalt and lead.
“Every day or every week, I have providers they’re calling me and asking for help. How do I manage this patient? And we do that over the phone because there has never been another option,” McCabe says.
McCabe says this approach is more cost-effective and efficient for the patient instead of ordering a myriad of tests to try and figure out how to treat an issue.
(By Zachary Smith, Iowa Public Radio)