Featuring hospital and health care headlines from the media and the web.
Iowa news
Gov. Kim Reynolds, doctors plead with Iowans to ‘get this pandemic under control’
As infection rates and hospitalizations from COVID-19 set records in Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds and leaders of two of the state’s largest hospitals pleaded with Iowans Thursday morning to “do their part” to stop the spread. Reynolds did not announce any new mitigation efforts, but said the state government would launch a public awareness campaign next week encouraging social distancing and hygiene. She made the announcement Thursday morning at her first formal, televised news conference since Oct. 7. (Des Moines Register)
More surgery space ahead at Broadlawns with $8.5M expansion
More construction is under way at Broadlawns Medical Center, where work has begun on a surgery department expansion on the first floor of the county hospital’s Sands Building. The project, which has a construction cost of $5.5 million, with equipment and furnishings will total about $8.5 million. It will add nearly 15,000 square feet of space, including two new operating suites and a second endoscopy suite, as well as additional post-operative recovery areas. With an expected completion in August 2021, the surgery expansion comes on the heels of a $31 million expansion project that was just completed in August that added nearly 42,000 square feet with a third-floor addition to Polk County’s safety-net hospital. That project included construction of new medical-surgical suites, a new state-of-the-art intensive care unit and 10 labor, delivery, recovery and post-partum suites. (Business Record)
61 Iowa counties report high virus positivity rate, hospitalization records set
Coronavirus hospitalizations continue to surge in Iowa as the state reported three new records Wednesday. The Iowa Department of Public Health on Wednesday reported 2,818 new positive COVID-19 cases and 26 additional deaths. As of 10 a.m., the state reported 136,047 total positive cases, 96,648 total recoveries and 1,781 total deaths since the pandemic began. The health department reported 133,229 total cases and 1,755 total deaths 24 hours earlier. (KCCI)
National news
US hits 100K+ daily cases for 1st time; PPE strains felt nationwide
The US recorded more than 100,000 new COVID-19 cases Nov. 4 — the first time the country has broken this threshold during the pandemic. Twenty states also saw record seven-day case averages Nov. 4 and five states — Colorado, Indiana, Maine, Minnesota and Nebraska — reported record daily increases. (New York Times)
Hospitals take action to avoid ransomware attacks, including pre-emptive email shut down
Hospitals nationwide are taking preemptive steps to avoid cyberattacks after the FBI issued a warning of increased hacking activity on Oct. 28. St. Lawrence Health System in upstate New York and Klamath Falls, Ore.-based Sky Lakes Medical Center reported ransomware attacks on Oct. 27. The federal government said six hospitals were hit within a 24-hour timeframe between Oct. 26 and Oct. 27, but did not reveal the names of the hospitals. (Becker’s Health IT)
Yearlong study validates telehealth use in diabetes prevention efforts
A yearlong study conducted by the University of Nebraska and Wake Forest University has found that a telehealth platform can help reduce the risk of diabetes in people with a high likelihood of developing the chronic disease. Participants in the Preventing Diabetes with Digital Health and Coaching for Translation and Scalability trial achieved a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in health and wellness. The trial centered on a digital Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) created by San Francisco-based Omada Health. (mhealthintelligence.com)