Today’s NewsStand

Today’s NewsStand

By Iowa Hospital Association|
|June 16, 2021

Iowa news

Vaccine demand continues to decrease in Iowa, especially in rural counties

Demand for COVID-19 vaccines continues to lag in Iowa, especially in the state’s rural counties. Vaccination rates in southern and northwestern Iowa trail those in more urban areas. In some counties, fewer than one in three residents have been fully vaccinated. (Iowa Public Radio)

University of Iowa Children’s Hospital at No. 15 in first US News Midwest rankings

University of Iowa Health Care’s century-old children’s hospital — which recently got a new name and new $392.7 million building — again has placed in the top 50 nationally in five of 10 ranked specialties, according to US News & World Report’s 2021-22 Best Children’s Hospitals report. Besides ranking nationally the 118 children’s hospitals it considered, US News for the first time this year debuted state and regional children’s hospital rankings — like it does for general acute-care hospitals, including the UI Hospitals and Clinics. (The Gazette)

The Twitter alerts that helped hundreds of Iowans find a COVID-19 vaccine is shutting down

The Twitter account that earlier this year started alerting Iowans to available COVID-19 vaccine appointments, garnering it thousands of followers in the midst of a chaotic vaccine roll out, has stopped sending the notices. The Iowa City man behind the account, @IAVaccineAlerts, turned off the alerts Monday, stating they had served their purpose. The @IAVaccineAlerts account launched March 10 as an individual’s attempt to create a centralized scheduling tool when one was not available from the state government. Finley, an application developer, created a program that aggregated data from various websites on available appointments. Once a vaccine appointment opened in Iowa, his Twitter accounted automatically tweeted out the specifics to tens of thousands of followers. (The Gazette)

 

National news

Some patients are reporting long COVID-19 recoveries but experts still don’t fully understand why

In recent months, a small but growing number of people with Long COVID-19 — the name adopted by those who develop lingering health problems after catching the virus — are experiencing improvements. These stories are anecdotal and far from universal. But after months of debilitating illness, even small improvements can feel like a new lease on life for those lucky enough to experience them. (Time Magazine)

US surpasses 600,000 deaths from the coronavirus

As states and cities nationwide continue to take steps toward normalcy, the US surpassed 600,000 COVID-19 deaths Tuesday, a stark reminder of the pandemic’s enduring toll. The remarkable progress in the nation’s battle against the coronavirus, thanks to a concerted vaccination effort led by the federal government, has ushered in the lifting of restrictions and perhaps even a sense that the pandemic’s over. The current seven-day average of about 430 COVID deaths a day is less than one-seventh of the 3,300 daily fatalities during the ghastly January peak. (USA Today)

Bill would permanently expand telehealth services

A new bill would permanently expand telehealth services under Medicare and allow patients in rural areas without access to broadband to use audio services. The Protecting Rural Telehealth Access Act was introduced by US Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, Joe Manchin, Joni Ernst and Jerry Moran. (San Antonio Express-News)

 

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