Michaela Ramm

After the state public health department issued new guidance late last week, local school districts are discussing revisions to their mask mandates just weeks before reaching the end of the school year.

The Medicaid program has stabilized since the switch to managed care and is accomplishing what the program set out to do, state leadership say. However, some Iowans on Medicaid aren’t buying it.

As blood supply reaches critical levels, local collection center reports only one-day supply on certain blood types

Nearly a quarter of the individuals who received the first shot of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine series in Iowa did not return for the second dose within the recommended interval of 21-28 days, state public health data shows.

State public health officials say the State Hygienic Lab has confirmed two cases of a new COVID-19 variant, SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617, in Jefferson County.

The managed care program has sent “signals of a stable program” since its switch five years ago, Elizabeth Matney, Iowa’s recently appointed Medicaid director, told The Gazette this week. That means state leadership can focus on addressing overall population health of the more than 700,000 poor and disabled Iowans who rely on Medicaid.

Mercy Medical Center announced plans to construct a new facility to house the hospital’s heart services under one roof. The new building, called the Heart Center of Mercy, will be located in downtown Cedar Rapids at Ninth Street SE and Eighth Avenue SE.

The rate of young Iowans receiving the HPV vaccine increased in 2019, but the rate of those adolescents returning for the second shot in the two-dose series declined from previous years, according to a new report. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

The number of opioid-related deaths in Iowa increased 35 percent in 2020, to 212. Federal and state public health officials say factors of the pandemic — including isolation and delays in accessing health care — may have accelerated the already increasing rate of opioid deaths.

Elizabeth Matney, current health policy advisor to Gov. Kim Reynolds, has been named as the new director of Iowa’s Medicaid program. She is set to begin her new role June 1.

Forty-three counties in Iowa declined their allotment of the COVID-19 vaccine from the state for this week, saying the demand for the shot wasn’t there among their residents. Now, these public health departments are working to encourage residents to take the shot -- particularly among those who are still hesitant about the vaccine.

The ACLU of Iowa has filed a lawsuit on behalf of transgender Iowans Thursday to strike down a 2019 law that allows government entities to deny Medicaid coverage for transition-related services. The suit is the latest of the organization’s yearslong battle with the state over transgender health care.

Anyone aged 18 and older can schedule an appointment to receive the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at the Eastern Iowa Health Center in Cedar Rapids, officials announced Monday.

Over the past several weeks as COVID-19 vaccines have become available to all Iowans, some have struggled to find an appointment to get immunized. So some have made it their mission to make sure everyone who wants a vaccine gets one.

Vaccine Hunter, the website that automatically collects open COVID-19 vaccine appointments from across the state, was created in March by Ankeny resident Todd Brady. The 37-year-old software developer wanted a solution to the challenges Iowans were facing in finding a shot.