66
Iowa Hospitals participating
2,600+
Consult calls
1,400+
annual Code Stroke activations
Two decades of advancing stroke care across Iowa’s health systems
When a stroke happens, fast treatment can save brain function and lives. For the past 20 years, UI Health Care’s Code Stroke system has helped patients across Iowa get recognized, evaluated, and treated faster.
May 20, 2026
Why rapid stroke treatment matters
If you or someone near you has a stroke, time is critical.
“When it comes to stroke, every second counts,” says Enrique Leira, MD, a neurologist and head of the Comprehensive Stroke Center at University of Iowa Health Care. He is also a professor and the director of the UI Department of Neurology Division of Cerebrovascular Disease. “There are 1.9 million neurons lost per minute.”
Code Stroke is a standardized treatment protocol used by hospitals across the United States to rapidly diagnose and treat a sudden stroke. UI Health Care’s Code Stroke program is a coordinated rapid response system that not only serves patients within its own hospitals but supports stroke care across Iowa.
UI Health Care’s university campus is home to a Comprehensive Stroke Center certified by The Joint Commission — the highest level of stroke care designation, reflecting advanced capabilities for treating the most complex cases.
“In order to expedite treatment when someone comes in with possible stroke symptoms, it’s important to recognize it rapidly,” Leira says.
For more than 20 years, Code Stroke has helped hospitals, emergency departments, and EMS teams quickly identify stroke and connect to specialized care when and where it’s needed.
“At its core, this system is about recognizing stroke immediately and responding without delay,” Leira says.
Over time, demand for this rapid response system has grown significantly, with more than 1,400 Code Stroke activations annually and increasing use from care teams seeking immediate stroke expertise.
"When it comes to stroke, every second counts. There are 1.9 million neurons lost per minute."
Enrique Leira, MD
What Code Stroke means for you
If you arrive at UI Health Care with possible stroke symptoms — or are transferred from another hospital — Code Stroke helps get you evaluated quickly.
The system is meant to keep recognition simple, even though stroke symptoms can show up in different ways.
Common stroke symptoms include:
- Sudden weakness
- Speech problems
- Vision changes
- Dizziness or loss of balance
Once the system number is called, the team moves quickly to evaluate you, examine you, obtain brain imaging, and determine whether treatment is needed.
How the system has evolved over 20 years
If you needed stroke care 20 years ago, your experience — and your access to expertise — would have likely looked very different.
Back then, hospitals across Iowa operated in silos when it came to stroke response. Today, UI Health Care has helped expand access to advanced stroke care, anchored by the capabilities of UI Health Care’s Comprehensive Stroke Center equipped to manage the most complex cases.
“There was no single, unified way for outside health systems who needed consultation to contact our stroke team,” says Erin Rindels, RN, senior coordinator for UI Health Care’s Comprehensive Stroke Center.
Early in the development of the system, UI Health Care created a single phone number to streamline how hospitals across Iowa connect with stroke specialists. Changing prior practices statewide took time and effort, but the result was life-changing for patients.
When every minute counts
If you or someone near you may be having a stroke, fast recognition and response can make a life-changing difference. UI Health Care’s stroke team is ready to evaluate and treat patients quickly — no matter where in Iowa your care begins.
One phone number changed access across Iowa
Today, a single call can activate stroke expertise across Iowa.
As a Comprehensive Stroke Center, UI Health Care serves as a critical resource for hospitals and care teams — offering specialized expertise, rapid consultation, and coordinated pathways to advanced treatment when needed.
When a hospital anywhere in the state needs support, Code Stroke connects their team directly to UI Health Care stroke specialists. Creating a streamlined pathway to rapid evaluation, decision-making, and, when needed, transfer for advanced care.
“When they call that system, our team is able to know what to do and answer that call quickly,” Rindels says.
What began as a solution to simplify communication has grown into a critical piece of Iowa’s stroke care infrastructure. Hospitals, EMS teams, and providers across the state now rely on this system to access timely expertise and coordinate care.
While the team’s commitment to rapid treatment has stayed the same, the reach of the Code Stroke has grown significantly. Today, this system supports thousands of interactions each year — including more than 2,600 consult calls from outside facilities and over 1,400 Code Stroke activations annually
Care teams across approximately 66 hospitals in the state of Iowa rely on this connection to access rapid stroke expertise and coordinate next steps in care.
This broader structure now helps connect emergency departments, EMS teams, and outside hospitals to UI Health Care stroke specialists with the goal of getting patients evaluated and treated quickly.
How faster stroke treatment improves recovery
Because of this faster response, stroke outcomes today have improved considerably.
“We have people that have had a major blockage of a major brain artery, and if they get successfully treated, sometimes they go home the next day,” Leira says.
Another major change over the past 20 years is how many people can be treated after a stroke begins. Rindels says that two decades ago, they could only treat patients within three hours from when their symptoms started.
That window has expanded.
“Now there are certain patients who can be treated up to 24 hours after their stroke,” she says.
This means that even if you don’t get care immediately, you may still have options — if you’re evaluated quickly.
These outcomes reflect not only advances in medicine, but the strength of a coordinated system that connects patients across Iowa to the right care at the right time.
"Now there are certain patients who can be treated up to 24 hours after their stroke."
Erin Rindels, RN
New treatments are improving stroke outcomes
Stroke care has also advanced because of new treatment options.
One of the biggest changes is mechanical thrombectomy, a procedure used to remove clots from blood vessels in the brain to restore blood flow. Similar in concept to a cardiac catheterization, it has become a standard in stroke care over the past decade.
“It has expanded treatment options for stroke care,” Rindels says.
Challenges in accessing stroke care in rural Iowa
Where you live can still affect how quickly you get stroke care. Access to comprehensive stroke care is not available in every setting, making coordinated systems and referral pathways essential to connecting patients to advanced treatment.
“The major disparity we have in Iowa is the rural (geographical) disparity,” Leira says.
If you live in a rural area, you may need to be transferred to UI Health Care for specialized procedures. That process can be affected by distance, weather, and available resources. Rural patients often face multiple barriers at once.
“Unfortunately, those factors can attribute to worse outcomes after a stroke,” he says.
Programs like Code Stroke help bridge that gap by connecting rural hospitals to specialized stroke expertise and accelerating transfer when advanced care is needed.
The future of stroke care in Iowa
Stroke care continues to evolve, and future advancements may help even more patients.
“We’re finding ways to treat patients that present later,” Leira says.
That’s especially important for patients in rural areas that are farther away from a treatment center.
One potential future development is medication that could protect the brain during transport. UI Health Care is currently part of a NIH network testing types of medications that could help reduce differences in outcomes between rural and urban patients.
For now, the Code Stroke system remains a critical part of how patients across Iowa can get faster access to life-saving and disability-saving stroke care.
As demand continues to grow, systems like this play an increasingly important role in ensuring equitable access to care — particularly for rural communities.
UI Health Care continues to expand and evolve this statewide network, strengthening partnerships and building the infrastructure needed to support stroke care across Iowa for years to come.
Get stroke care fast
UI Health Care’s Code Stroke system helps patients across Iowa get rapid evaluation and advanced treatment when it matters most.
April 22, 2026
Plans are underway to expand orthopedic surgical and clinical services as demand grows with improved access for Iowans
November 24, 2025
Six months later, the campus is surpassing expectations, becoming an anchor for the growing community and drawing patients from across the state and t...
