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Stories of life-changing treatment at UW Health

March 12, 2021
Aerial view of medical buildings including UW Hospital on west end of campus

The medical area of the western side of the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus. In the center is the UW Hospitals and Clinics. Clusters around the periphery, counter clockwise from far left, prominent campus facilities include the Waisman Center, American Family Children’s Hospital, UW Medical Foundation Centennial Building, Veterans Administration Hospital, Signe Skott Cooper Hall, Renebohm Hall, Health Sciences Learning Center and Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research (WIMR). Photo: Jeff Miller

From February through June, we will highlight the ways that UW–Madison powers the state’s economy through research and innovation, educates the next generation and reaches out to Wisconsinites to improve their lives. March’s theme is Health. Watch for more at #CantStopABadger and #UWimpact on social media. Your support can help us continue this work.

UW Health serves more than 600,000 patients a year.

For many of them, the care is life changing.

It’s not just the world-class health care, provided in partnership with the School of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics.

It’s the compassion with which patients are treated by the 1,500 physicians and 17,000 staff members, to help them to the best possible outcome.

Read some of their stories here:

  • Kelsey Townsend was nine months pregnant in October when she was diagnosed with COVID-19 and later gave birth on Nov. 4 while in a medically induced coma. She made an amazing recovery. When she was discharged in January, she was able to hold her newborn baby, Lucy, for the first time. Read more.
  • After being told her brain tumor was inoperable, Sun Lim of Northbrook, Ill., turned to UW Health. Doctors there were able to operate and remove the tumor, even in the midst of the pandemic. And the Lim family was impressed by the level of care. Read more.
  • Carmen Lerma became the first person in Wisconsin to undergo a double lung transplant because of COVID-19. She’s been discharged and still has a long road to recovery, but she’s making good progress. Read more.
  • Filmmaker Andrew Scheid just happened to be in Wisconsin when he was diagnosed with lung cancer. But after many months of treatment at UW Carbone Cancer Center, he’s recovering. “You end up in the middle of the worst moment of your life in the place with the nicest people and the best medical care you could possibly get in the country,” he said. Read more.
  • After her cancer went into remission, Renee Zemke struggled with depression and thoughts of suicide. But her UW Health doctor talked to her about it and encouraged her to get help. Now she advocates for other cancer survivors. Her message? It’s OK to not be OK after cancer, and help is never far away. Read more.

UW-Madison contributes $20.8 billion per year to the Wisconsin economy, and UW–Madison related start-ups contribute an additional $10 billion. Read more here.

 

 

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