The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics network is impressive and a positive force in Iowa City and to the global community. Its health care workers deserve adequate pay to keep up with patient care and medical research.

In January, the UIHC requested a 5 percent wage increase, higher than public employee wages are allowed to increase, from the state Board of Regents but were granted a 1 percent increase. Collective bargaining law overhauls in 2017 capped public employee base wage increases to either 3 percent or the rise in regional consumer price index, whichever is less. While the caregivers union wouldn’t be granted the 5 percent, a 1 percent raise is still well below the cap during a year that has pummeled hospitals and its workers.

The UIHC caregivers union then asked Gov. Kim Reynolds to write an appreciation letter for hospital staff, hoping it would encourage the regents to increase wages enough. However, Reynolds took no such action.

UIHC workers should not have to ask for funding over and over again from Iowa. We should all want our state to provide proper funding to our hospitals and its workers that have tirelessly cared for our sick lived ones during an exhausting and heart-wrenching pandemic.

Nurses across the country have been experiencing overwork and burnout, and UIHC has had to hire more expensive traveling nurses to fill the gaps.

Nurses arguably have one of the most important jobs, especially during the pandemic. Nurses are responsible for the lives of our family, friends and neighbors. If extra funding could help the hospital network grant them more reasonable hours, they should receive it.

All hospitals and nurses are important and necessary, but UIHC staff provides so much for the entire nation, not just Iowa. They provide all kinds of work for patients of all abilities and ages.

Previously reported by The Daily Iowan, UIHC has helped Iowans from all 99 counties during the COVID-19 according to Suresh Gunasekaran, who is the CEO of UIHC. Putting more funding into the UIHC would therefore benefit all Iowans, not just people in Iowa City.

Besides treating COVID-19 patients, UIHC was also part of clinical trials that helped search for a cure for the virus.

Currently, UIHC is receiving extra funding through the federal government’s CARES Act, but it is not smart to limit funding to our hospitals once the pandemic is over, especially UIHC.

One in 10 of COVID-19 patients are experiencing long-term effects, according to research from. There are also multiple virus variants that scientists are still keeping an eye on, which means patients will still need the best possible care.

Even if COVID-19 is completely eradicated in the near future, UIHC has proven to be beneficial for many medical problems that various people face.

In 2017, UIHC studied how to improve treatment for traumatic brain injuries which is a major cause of death in the U.S. The network did extensive research on secondary damage from swelling and brain cell deaths.

UIHC is also home to the Stead Family children’s hospital which is the only comprehensive children’s hospital in Iowa and one of the best in the nation. Last year, children from 45 out of 50 US states and from 20 different countries went to UIHC children’s hospital.

Time and again UIHC provides extraordinary care and research to our community and many others. The network deserves to be rewarded by the state Board with proper funding.

Columns reflect the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Editorial Board, The Daily Iowan, or other organizations in which the author may be involved.