Serving the community: Why the Occupational Health Clinic is an important resource

One patient’s visit to the Occupational Health Clinic was more than just a visit, it was a fresh start.

“We had a patient come in who was very excited to be here,” says Devon Brand, lab technician within the Occupational Health Clinic. “It turns out, he’d been homeless for a while and finally got a job. We were part of his drug testing process so he could get hired and begin his next step in life on a better path.”

Whether a person works in Iowa City or any other part of the corridor, patients looking for a pre-employment physical, treatment for a work-related injury, spirometry testing—and more—are all headed to the same place: the Occupational Health Clinic in Coralville.

“We’re a pretty unique clinic,” says Brand. “Each day is a little different. Not every patient we see is here for the same thing. One day, we could do someone’s pre-employment drug testing just for their new-hire physical or new-hire employment. The next, a patient may come who was exposed to hazardous materials.”

A team approach

Brand serves many roles in the clinic, including coordinating specialty referrals and ensuring follow-up care is coordinated. Through these responsibilities, she sees firsthand the clinic’s ability to perform many different patient-care tasks, and attributes that ability to the close collaboration among colleagues.

“Everyone from the providers to our administration staff to the clinical staff and registration staff, we all work so well together,” she says. “If there’s a challenge, we help each other out. If I’m not able to communicate something to the patient or get the task done that I need to, someone is always there to help. We believe in a team approach.”

This collaboration is one key mechanism that allows the clinic to ease any anxieties their patients may have upon arrival.

“People can be nervous when they come to a doctor’s office,” says Brand. “But they’re not just a number to us, they’re a person. We take everything into consideration just to make them feel comfortable and welcome.”

In order to treat their patients well—both medically and personally—Brand says they mirror that sentiment with one another.

“To us, it doesn’t matter your role, you’re a part of the team,” she says. “Everyone treats everyone with respect and that allows us all to focus on the patient.”

For more information on the Occupational Health Clinic, visit uihc.org/ui-occupational-health-clinic.