UnityPoint Health to Serve as Presenting Sponsor of Des Moines University's Glanton Event

Keynote by UnityPoint Health CMO Gregory Johnson

WEST DES MOINES, IA (08/25/2025) UnityPoint Health will be the presenting sponsor for the 2025 Glanton Event on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, at The Meadows Event Center in Altoona, Iowa, advancing Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences' mission to prepare a health care workforce that meets the needs of all communities.

UnityPoint Health's sponsorship reflects its systemwide commitment to improving health outcomes, enhancing access and addressing disparities in care across the communities it serves.

"UnityPoint Health and Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences share a commitment to providing exceptional health care to our communities, especially as it relates to improving access," says UnityPoint Health's President and CEO Scott Kizer. "This event celebrates current and future health care practitioners and provides a path for students to continue their education so they can serve their communities now and in the future.

This year's program will feature a keynote address by Gregory Johnson, M.D., SFHM, FAAFP, FACP, chief medical officer at UnityPoint Health. Johnson has more than 15 years of clinical and executive experience, including leadership roles in health equity, impact and engagement, along with patient safety and care transformation. He oversees the clinical enterprise for 17 UnityPoint acute care hospitals and 19 rural affiliates.

Johnson's talk, Watchfulness With Purpose: Strengthening Health for All, will explore the importance of students and future practitioners gathering and using data, engaging local organizations and community members to ensure that community health needs are identified and addressed.

"When we build care models that center communities with the most challenges, whether rural communities, veterans or low-income neighborhoods, we not only achieve fairness - we improve clinical outcomes and reduce waste," Johson says.

"UnityPoint Health's partnership helps us prepare future health professionals who are equipped to deliver care that truly meets people where they are," says Angela L. Walker Franklin, Ph.D., DMU president and CEO. "Their investment in the Glanton Fund translates directly into opportunities for students and better health outcomes for the communities our graduates will one day serve."

The Glanton Fund was established in 2004 to honor the contributions of the late Judge Luther T. Glanton and Willie Stevenson Glanton. The fund generates scholarships for promising students to attend DMU and supports university programming that fosters cultural competency and community engagement.

Since its inception, the fund has provided more than $4 million in scholarships and programming. The Glanton Event is the primary fundraiser supporting this vital work.

For details about the Glanton Fund or to support its mission, visit dmu.edu/glanton or contact Lauren Dixson, senior director of development and alumni relations, at 515-271-1573 or glanton@dmu.edu.

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