A new report released this week by the Iowa Hospital Association shows hospitals across the state cared for 2.6 million people and employed more than 149,000 individuals, accounting for $8.8 billion in total wages, in 2021.
Mercy Medical Center and UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital have announced additional partnerships with area nursing programs in an effort to recruit more locally trained nurses in the midst of ongoing staff challenges.
Due to Iowa’s limited allocation of the monkeypox vaccine, state public health officials say vaccine administration is prioritized for close contacts of an individual with a known monkeypox infection. As of Wednesday, the State Hygienic Lab has tested 18 people for monkeypox statewide.
New COVID-19 case counts has risen for the second week in a row in Iowa, a week after the state saw a dramatic spike in seven-day infections. Hospitalizations are also on the rise, prompting local health care officials to urge residents to wear masks and practice other mitigation strategies.
Johnson County Public Health has confirmed the first case of monkeypox in the county, marking the fifth confirmed case in Iowa, according to state public health officials. Officials say they are working with state public health officials to determine the circumstances of this individual’s infection.
UI Health Care has reported a roughly $130 million increase in estimated construction costs to its North Liberty hospital campus, resulting in a 33 percent increase in its budget for the project. In all, the price tag is now more than $525 million. Hospital officials will ask for Board of Regents approval on the new budget in the July 27 meeting.
UnityPoint-Tower Terrace clinic in Marion will have an open house and offer tours Wednesday. Patients can begin making appointments Aug. 1.
Rising costs have been felt acutely by seniors on fixed incomes, who increasingly are turning to food banks and other programs. But many advocates in Iowa predicted there would be an increase in demand for food assistance after benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program returned to pre-pandemic levels
Industry leaders say better government reimbursement rates are needed in order to better pay workers
The number of Americans who need an organ transplant continues to grow, but the number of organs available to transplant is failing to keep up. To avoid the yearslong wait on the national transplant list, doctors are more often recommending patients seek out a match with a living donor within their family or their social circles.
The closure comes as Linn County is seeing high transmission rates of the virus again
After four weeks of stable case counts, the number of new COVID-19 cases jumped 30 percent in Iowa in the past week compared to the week before. Statewide hospitalizations also increased, according to new state and federal coronavirus data released Wednesday.
As of last month, there were 410 complaints pending against Iowa nursing homes that were at least 30 days old. Of them, 24 were over a year old.
The study published June 29 in Science Translational Medicine found, for example, that by infusing carbon monoxide into consumable foams — like those chefs use on cooking shows to add flavor and sophisticate their plates — doctors could have a safe way to get a therapeutic form of the feared gas into a patients’ gastrointestinal tract.
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