Wrigley's story
Enhancing pediatric care in the Quad Cities
Children living in the Quad Cities who have specialized health needs receive health care much closer to home, thanks to a pediatric specialty clinic offered through a collaboration between University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital and Genesis Health System.
“We’ve been in the Quad Cities for decades,” says pediatric cardiologist, Thomas Scholz, MD. “We’ve provided these services that haven’t really had a place of their own..
It is our hope that by providing these services we will be addressing unmet needs in the Quad Cities area, that we will provide a broader umbrella of specialized care for kids that may not have ready access,” he says.
No one needs to convince Kelly and Bill Matthys of Davenport of the benefits of having specialized health care close to home. They experience those benefits each time they take their son, Wrigley, to see Pyevich (Wrigley was referred to Pyevich by Kelly’s obstetrician).
Wrigley was diagnosed as having transposition of the great vessels – his aorta and pulmonary artery were switched around – when Kelly was 24 weeks pregnant.
Pyevich helped the Matthys’s throughout the pregnancy and discussed the best way to treat Wrigley after he was born. Because they had time, Kelly Matthys said she and her husband were able to investigate where they wanted to go for Wrigley’s birth and his surgery.
“It was a hard, emotional pregnancy to know something like that for so long, but we were able to do a lot of research on different hospitals,” Kelly Matthys says. “We were given the information ahead of time and we wanted to make the best decision for our child.”
The couple interviewed doctors and surgeons at UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital as well as at hospitals in Chicago, and ultimately decided to deliver Wrigley at UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital in Iowa City.
“We absolutely made the best choice,” Kelly Matthys says. Wrigley was born on Sept. 14, 2006, and five days later underwent open heart surgery to repair the transpositioned vessels. Less than two weeks later he was sent home. With the exception of one follow-up appointment in Iowa City, all of Wrigley’s care has been done with Pyevich in Davenport.
“We feel that we’re so blessed to have this great facility right in our backyard,” Kelly Matthys says. “Everything is right here, and that’s so amazing and convenient.”