HR Corner

Submitted by Melissa Monhollon-

YEAR-END BENEFITS REMINDER

As we approach the new year, please take a moment to review the following benefits information, including 2023 FSA deadlines, new IRS limits for retirement plan contributions, and voluntary vision insurance open enrollment. Our commitment to your well-being is reflected in a comprehensive and robust benefits package designed to bring you and your family peace of mind and support.

Health Insurance

If you made any of the following changes during open enrollment, you will receive new ID cards from Wellmark:

• Newly enrolled
• Switched health plans (from UIChoice to UISelect or vice versa)
• You changed policyholders within a double spouse credit situation

Plan members can expect to receive new cards before Jan. 1, 2024. Please ensure your address is up to date in Employee Self-Service to avoid delays.

Flexible Spending Account

2023 FSA expenses must be incurred by Dec. 31, 2023, and can be submitted to HealthEquity for reimbursement until April 30, 3024.

Retirement

IRS limits will increase for 2024 retirement plan contributions. Visit our webpage to view the new limits.

• Confirm your beneficiaries and address are up to date for your mandatory retirement plan by logging in to your online IPERS or TIAA

Tax Forms

You have the option to electronically receive your 2023 tax forms (W-2 and Affordable Care Act [ACA] 1095) if you make your selection by Jan. 10, 2024. Log in to Employee Self-Service and select My Self Service >> Settings >> Form Delivery Options to request electronic delivery.

Benefits Annual Federal Notices

Federal law requires the university to disseminate specific notices to our employees annually. Please review these important policies related to benefits and your privacy: Annual Federal Notices.

For more information, please visit the University Benefits Office website, email benefits@uiowa.edu, or call 319-335-2676 between 8 a.m. — 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

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UPCOMING HOLIDAY SCHEDULE

See below a link to the Registrar’s 5-year calendar which includes University/UIHC closures dates from 2023 through 2028.

Five-Year Calendar | Office of the Registrar | The University of Iowa (uiowa.edu)

Of note, UIHC offices will be closed in observance of holidays on the following dates:

• December 25
• December 26
• January 1
• January 15

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CATASTROPHIC LEAVE / VACATION DONATIONS

Meghan Menzel

Effective 9/29/23, photographer Meghan Menzel is eligible to receive catastrophic leave (i.e. – donations of vacation time from others) from 9/29/23 through 12/31/23.

Our benefits office has supplied us with the link below to share with staff who may be interested in donating vacation time to Meghan, and Meghan has given us permission to include this in the employee newsletter.

https://hr.uiowa.edu/benefits/time/catastrophic-leave/catastrophic-leave-donations-another-employee

Patient Donation: "To Help More Kids"

Submitted by Vikki Bell-

Brody (a long-time patient of Dr. Dumitrescu) and several friends from his hometown had a lemonade stand along the Ragbrai route this summer with the intention of donating the funds to their church. However, Brody was adamant that he did not want to donate his share to the church to which his Mom told him that he could not keep the money, to which he replied, he didn’t want to keep it but wanted his share of the money to be donated to his eye doctor, Dr. Dumitrescu, to help other kids.

Incoming Fellowship Match Results

Join us in welcoming our newest fellows that will be joining the Iowa Eye family in 2024!

Team Althea & The Menzel Family

Submitted by Sarah Skiles-

One of our ophthalmic photographers, Meghan Menzel, gave birth to a baby girl (Althea Menzel) this spring. Althea was born with a birth defect called Tetralogy of Fallot with Pulmonary Artresia and Mapca’s, which means that the pathways from the heart to the lungs were underdeveloped. Althea has had two open heart surgeries within the first year of her life but has proven be a fighter just like her mom.

One of Meghan’s good friends has put together a gofundme account to help with Althea’s medical expenses. The following is a link to the GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/altheas-medical-bills

Meghan’s sister-in-law and other members of her family have also made Team Althea bracelets. They are $5 and will be located in photography for purchase.

This is a truly trying time for the Menzel family and they appreciate any support we are willing to give them. Thank you for supporting Team Althea!

Spring Clinical Conferences | REGISTER TODAY

Submitted by Matt Browning-

Pediatric Ophthalmology Clinical Conference
Friday, February 23, 2024
8 AM to 12 PM
Braley Auditorium
Guest Speaker: Janice Lasky Zeid, MD
Faculty Host: Alina Dumitrescu, MD

CLICK TO REGISTER

Dr. Janice Lasky Zeid is a pediatric ophthalmologist in Northbrook, Illinois. She graduated from Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine in 1993 and has 30 years of experience. Dr. Lasky Zeid is an Associate Professor of Pediatric Ophthalmology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and practices at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital.

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Glaucoma Clinical Conference
Friday, March 29, 2024
8 AM to 12 PM
Braley Auditorium
Guest Speaker: David S. Friedman, MD, PhD, MPH
Faculty Host: Nathaniel Sears, MD

CLICK TO REGISTER

Dr. David S. Friedman is the Director of the Glaucoma Service and the Albert and Diane Kaneb Chair in Ophthalmology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear as well as Co-Director of the Glaucoma Center of Excellence at Harvard Medical School. He has pursued excellence in clinical care, research, and education, and is considered a leader in all three fields. As a clinician he has consistently been elected a “Best Doctor” and frequently is asked to lecture both domestically and internationally on glaucoma care. He is world renowned for the treatment of angle closure glaucoma. He performs a wide range of glaucoma procedures as well as cataract surgery. Dr. Friedman’s research focuses on angle closure glaucoma, ophthalmic epidemiology, and glaucoma therapy with an emphasis on medication adherence among glaucoma patients. Dr. Friedman has published nearly 300 peer-reviewed articles.

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Neuro-Ophthalmology Clinical Conference
Friday, April 19, 2024
8 AM to 12 PM
Braley Auditorium
Guest Speaker: Reid Longmuir, MD
Faculty Host: Edward Linton, MD

CLICK TO REGISTER

Dr. Reid Longmuir is a native Iowan, who received both his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Iowa. Dr. Longmuir also completed his residency at Iowa followed by fellowships in both neuro-ophthalmology and glaucoma. In 2008, Dr. Longmuir was appointed Assistant Professor at Iowa, specializing in both neuro-ophthalmology and glaucoma. Longmuir’s main focus and interests include unexplained vision loss and optic neuropathies, as well as medical student and resident education. Dr. Longmuir currently serves as Neuro-Ophthalmology Division Chief and Associate Residency Program Director at Vanderbilt Eye Institute.

Iowa Lions Eye Bank | Update

Shared by Adam Stockman-

Corneal Transplantation History Lesson

On December 7, 1905, Czech ophthalmologist Eduard Zirm became the first person in history to perform a human corneal transplant that remained clear and functional. That moment was made possible by the preceding hundreds of years of experiments and advancements outlined in the article linked below. Zirm's success set in motion events and advancements that have resulted in our current professions being possible. The article is an interesting read as it was written in 2005, a time when the endothelial keratoplasty revolution was in its infancy. Around the time this article was published, ILEB was embarking on its journey to be only the second eye bank in the country performing Descemet's Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty (DSAEK) preparations, was a short time out from acquiring a femtosecond laser for preparing Laser Shaped Keratoplasty (LSK) grafts, and was less than 4 years away from being the first eye bank in the country to prepare DMEK grafts in the eye bank setting (thanks to methodology fine-tuned by our own Greg Schmidt).

Read article: Centennial Review of corneal transplantation
^{Louise Moffatt, BSc; Victoria A. Cartwright, BA; and Thomas H. Stumpf, PhD, FRCOphth; Department of Ophthalmology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand}

Welcome to the new 'The Loop!'

After more than two years of discussion with employees and countless hours dedicated to improving access to organizational information, our upgraded platform is finally here.

The new and improved version of The Loop is now live!

You will be required to log in to The Loop with your HawkID and password going forward. This feature is in place to help protect organizational information and provide a secure network for UI Health Care employees.

What to expect...

• All the information from the current site has been transferred.
• The Point will still be available.
• The upgraded platform for The Loop will require all UI Health Care employees to log in with HawkID and password.
• Each employee will have their own intranet profile in the new UI Health Care directory. Employees can upload a professional work photo and select their working location.
• Employees will have the option to access the same great content from their personal mobile device via a new mobile app (if they choose to).

Additional manager awareness:

• Ancillary employees will have access to The Loop, have an intranet profile in the UI Health Care directory, and will begin receiving the Noon News daily email starting Dec. 13.
• The Loop is not a HIPAA-compliant system. Please remember not to share any patient, personal, or confidential information when using collaboration features.
• Employees can view Microsoft 365 documents they are permissioned to see from The Loop interface, however, no Microsoft 365 content or data is stored or accessible within The Loop.

For a full overview of the coming changes over this two-year project, visit The Loop upgrade site.

UI Health Care to update brand identity, logos in 2024

UI Health Care is evolving to meet the health care needs for the state across its patient care, medical education, and biomedical research missions. As part of this evolution, the UI Health Care brand will be updated to reflect UI Health Care’s identity as a health care leader and innovator in the region, and a place where people feel proud to work.

For more information on what this will look like, visit: https://intranet.uihealthcare.org/page/4002

You will be required to log in to The Loop with your HawkID and password going forward. This feature is in place to help protect organizational information and provide a secure network for UI Health Care employees.

Please keep in mind, the factors of accreditations, licensing, and federal and state regulations require us to have a coordinated rollout. We are working with teams across the organization for an integrated, phased implementation to start this spring. Brand guidelines are being developed to know where and how to use these new elements.

The early brand implementation will start to be seen with the Mercy Iowa City transition to UI Health Care starting early in 2024. At the same time, the UIHC Marketing and Communications team is preparing with teams across the organization for the first wave of our three-year implementation plan for UI Health Care brand changes.

Information will continue to be shared as more details are known. Employees may also send questions to marcomadmin@uihealthcare.uiowa.edu.

Ronald Ray Longmuir, 1947-2023

Submitted by Ramona Weber-

Ronald R. Longmuir, 76, of Manchester, Iowa, died Tuesday evening, November 28, 2023, at his home. Longmuir was the father of Dr. Reid Longmuir, alumnus (06R, 07F – Neuro-Op, 08F – Glaucoma) and former neuro-ophthalmology faculty member of the department, and father-in-law to, Dr. Susannah Longmuir, Iowa Eye alumna (07R, 08F – Peds) and former pediatric ophthalmology faculty member.

View full obituary

Donations for Domestic Violence Shelter

Submitted by McKenzie Krehbiel & Matt Browning-

We will be collecting items for the shelter through the end of the year.

There will be a large, black tub labelled for donations in the admin suite. Below is a list of items the shelter has requested. The items that are bolded are the most needed items.

If you are at a location outside the hospital, feel free to start a collection at your location and you can either have someone bring it to the hospital by new year’s or you can email McKenzie Krehbiel or Matt Browning about getting the donated items picked up.

FOOD

• Similac Infant Formula
• Coffee
• Cooking Oil
• Frozen Meals
• Gift Cards for Holiday Meals

HEALTH AND HOUSEHOLD

• Gift Cards
• Deodorant
• Black hair care products
• Black hair care accessories (picks, detangling brushes for Black hair, hair clips for braiding, silk or satin hair caps/wraps)
• Diapers Sizes 4-6
• Pull-ups 4T/5T
• Pregnancy Tests
• Child and adult over-the-counter pain medication (Tylenol, Ibuprofen, etc.)
• Laundry soap
• Toilet paper
• Cleaning supplies-all types
• Plastic dishes (bowls, plates, cups)

YOUTH DEPARTMENT

• Wireless headphones and speakers
• Gift cards: Coral Ridge Mall, Wal-Mart, Target, Wendy’s, Burger King, McDonald’s
• Xbox, Playstation, and Switch games
• Backpacks and gym bags
• Large toy cars
• Watercolor paint sets
• Craft kits
• Sketch pads
• Art paper and art supplies
• Kids clothing – all sizes (new or used and in good condition)

CLOTHING AND MISC. ITEMS

• Infant and children’s clothing – all sizes (winter appropriate
• Kids’ socks
• Kids’ shoes (Size 1-7)
• Kids’ underwear (All sizes)

DEPARTING CLIENT WISH LIST

• Durable plastic cups, plates, and bowls
• Silverware
• Pots and pans
• Gas gift cards
• Target/Wal-Mart gift cards
• Blanket and sheet sets
• Cleaning supplies (sprays, sponges, rags, equipment)
• Towels and dishcloths