Health Care and Medicine

Mercy Medical Center and UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids have postponed all elective and nonemergent surgeries through Christmas, effective immediately. The decision comes just a day after Iowa broke records for COVID-19 hospitalizations, surpassing more than 800 patients this week.

Iowa reported 823 individuals have been hospitalized as a result of the coronavirus this past week, the highest total seen in 2021. The last time hospitalizations were at or above 800 was more than a year ago.

Throughout much of the pandemic, the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics offered its cardiac rehabilitation services through a virtual format, helping patients from the comfort of their own homes. But other hospitals opted to keep rehabilitation facilities open, noting that most patients prefer the benefits of in-person care.

The Virginia Beach Department of Public Health posted a statement Friday announcing Pedati would serve as the coastal city’s public health director beginning Dec. 10.

On Dec. 14, 2020, an emergency department nurse at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics became the first person in Iowa to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. One year later, nearly 2 million Iowans have been fully vaccinated, but UIHC say there’s still work to be done in order to control the pandemic.

With a growing array of direct-to-consumer genetics companies enticing holiday shoppers to surprise loved ones with “the gift that brings families together,” University of Iowa experts are warning DNA tests sometimes can do the opposite — and buyers should beware of unintended consequences.

Using federal dollars, the state has contracted 100 traveling nurses and respiratory therapists to assist 17 hospitals across Iowa as health care providers grapple with the highest number of COVID-19 patient admissions seen in a year.

Dr. Alana McNutt of Tipton Veterinary Services is a local large animal vet that not only cares for animals, but the farmers themselves.

The latest variant of COVID-19, omicron, has been detected in an Iowa resident for the first time, state public health officials confirmed Thursday. The Black Hawk County resident is under 18 and is asymptomatic.

The U.S. is expanding COVID-19 boosters, ruling that 16- and 17-year-olds can get a third dose of Pfizer’s vaccine.

As their hospitals experience a concerning increase in COVID-19 admissions, the top medical officers at Mercy Medical Center and UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital say more people with boosted immunity could help slow the surge.

The number of dementia and Alzheimer’s cases has increased in recent years and the COVID-19 pandemic has indirectly caused further decline in those with cognitive conditions.