Today’s NewsStand — March 3, 2020

Today’s NewsStand — March 3, 2020

By Iowa Hospital Association|
|March 3, 2020

Featuring hospital and health care headlines from the media and the Web.

Iowa News       

Reynolds announces $1 million in funding to expand career academies
Gov. Kim Reynolds today announced a $1 million funding opportunity to expand career academy programs across the state in an effort to prepare more high school students for success in the workforce. A new Career Academy Incentive Fund will provide competitive grants to Iowa school districts and community colleges that team up to start or expand career academies that meet the needs of local business and industry, communities and schools. (Des Moines Business Record)

Bill would seek to improve rural maternal health care in Iowa
With growing concern around maternal health in Iowa, Senate Democrats have decided to take action. The Healthy Moms and Babies Act aims to adjust Medicaid rates to allow mothers to be reimbursed for their treatments, ensure labor and delivery units use safe practices and also would expand home visiting services for women and their babies. Iowa has the lowest number of obstetricians per capita in the country, which is a contributing number to the United State’s maternal death rate, according to the Senate Democrats’ press release. (Iowa State Daily)

MercyOne Centerville named top hospital
MercyOne Centerville Medical Center revently announced it has been named a 2020 Top 100 Critical Access Hospital by The Chartis Center for Rural Health. This annual award honoring rural hospital performance is determined by the results of iVantage Health Analytics’ Hospital Strength INDEX, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2020. MercyOne Centerville Medical Center is a not-for-profit, Catholic critical access hospital serving the Appanoose County area for 110 years. (University of Iowa Daily Iowegian)

National News

Supreme Court to again decide fate of ACA
The U.S. Supreme Court heard Monday the case attempting to overturn the Affordable Care Act, a win for blue states pushing for the high court to weigh in and potentially thrusting the health law into the 2020 presidential election campaign. The decision means the justices will add the case to their schedule for the next term, which starts in October. A final decision on the fate of the landmark that ushered in health insurance coverage for millions of Americans and reshaped the industry likely would be rendered sometime next year. (Healthcare Dive)

Authorities announce second coronavirus death in US
Health officials in Washington state said Sunday night that a second person had died from the coronavirus — a man in his 70s from a nursing facility near Seattle where dozens of people were sick and had been tested for the virus. On Friday, health officials said a man in his 50s died of coronavirus, the first death from the virus in the U.S.. Both had underlying health conditions, and both were being treated at a hospital in Kirkland, Washington, east of Seattle. (Associated Press)

US plans ‘radical expansion’ of coronavirus testing
After weeks of stalled testing for the coronavirus, the United States now has enough diagnostic kits to test 75,000 people, with more on the way, Alex M. Azar II, the health and human services secretary, said on Sunday. Mr. Azar’s announcement came a day after the Food and Drug Administration announced that it was giving laboratories and hospitals across the country the go-ahead to conduct tests that had been severely limited to those analyzed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (New York Times)

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