Michaela Ramm

Earlier this year, in December and January, five children died by suicide in Polk County. State officials are seeking federal assistance in studying the pattern, but local mental health advocates say the pandemic’s impact on children across Iowans means providers have a lot of ground to cover in order to meet youth health needs.

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.

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

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.

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.

A Cedar Rapids company has won a $256,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to test its health care risk assessment and mitigation tool. The digital tool flags potential risks to patients based on underlying health conditions and other factors, such as staff fatigue.

New COVID-19 cases in Iowa continued their slow decline, falling to 3,980 new cases in the past seven days. As of this week, the state has tallied 800,176 total coronavirus infections since March 2020.

Corridor hospitals saw a decline in patients arriving in emergency rooms with fireworks-related injuries over the holiday weekend when compared to volumes in recent years. Cedar Rapids police also saw a decline in calls for services due to fireworks, but Iowa City totals remained the same when compared to previous years.

My Care Community is a partnership of dozens of area health care and social service providers that aims to improve residents’ overall well-being through care coordination. The network recently switched to a new platform.

The 3-year-old child from Coralville who suffered a gunshot-related injury Sunday afternoon has died, authorities announced. The Coralville Police Department and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation are investigating the incident.