Carla Schulz, Alumni Citation 2024

Dr. Carla Stahlberg Schulz ’82, Alumni Citation 2024

Dr. Carla Stahlberg Schulz ’82
Marion, Iowa

Dr. Carla Schulz has made a career of caring for others, routinely going above and beyond the normal responsibilities of a medical provider to ensure a healthier community.

After her residency, Schulz established her own family practice — and just two years later also co-founded the Cedar Rapids Free Medical Clinic, offering volunteer services two nights a month to the uninsured and those who could not otherwise afford care. Today that organization has turned into two organizations, His Hands Free Clinic and the Community Free Health Clinic. They offer daily services from volunteers and paid employees.

“She had one of the most successful and sought-after family practices in the area, so it was not for want of patients that she developed the clinic,” wrote nominator Timothy Charles, former president and CEO of Mercy Medical Center. “It was her dedication to serving the poor and often disenfranchised.”

When her daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 5, Schulz began to volunteer for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. She helped organize the first JDRF fundraising walk and JDRF gala in Cedar Rapids, which are now annual events. She also became the medical director of the diabetes camp at Camp Tanager from 1998-2011, providing essential education designed to improve the daily quality of life for children with diabetes.

After a cancer diagnosis led to a job change, Schulz found herself working at the Mercy Care Urgent Clinic. Shortly after, she was asked to create an inpatient rehabilitation unit for Mercy Medical Center, drawing on her own experience recovering from her cancer. The unit, which she retired from in April, is in the top 10 percent of facilities nationally.

“Serving others whenever and wherever one finds oneself requires a clarity of purpose that is chosen, cultivated, and expressed. For Carla, this part seemed easy, and it was selfless.” wrote Charles. “I believe there is no better affirmation of her faith and dedication to the poor.”

For her unwavering commitment to medical care for all, Wartburg College is pleased to present Dr. Carla Schulz with an Alumni Citation.