Today’s NewsStand

Today’s NewsStand

By Iowa Hospital Association|
|October 26, 2022

Iowa news

Who’s running for Broadlawns’ board? These 6 candidates are running for 3 open seats

Six candidates are on the ballot this November for the board for Polk County’s public hospital. Three spots are open on the seven-member board that oversees Broadlawns Medical Center, the Des Moines hospital funded by Polk County taxpayer dollars. In 2021, the hospital’s revenue stream included more than $73 million from the property tax levy. The 200-bed hospital, which employs more than 1,200 full-time staff and about 100 physicians, is a safety net medical provider for community members. Most of its patients rely on noncommercial health insurance plans, such as Medicaid. (Des Moines Register)

Moville to see new medical clinic in 2023

In 1994, a group of Moville residents formed a nonprofit to address the lack of health care in rural areas. The Moville Area Medical Clinic Committee raised the funds and eventually built the current health care facility by hand. Now, 28 years later, the same organization has raised the funds for a brand new health care facility that will serve Moville as well as the many surrounding small communities. The Moville Area Medical Clinic will be a two-story 10,000 square foot facility operated by MercyOne. (Sioux City Journal)

Opinion: Stand with public health

In comparing Midwestern farm economy states, red state Nebraska has the lowest COVID-19 death rate (237 per 100,000), closely followed by blue states Minnesota (246) and Wisconsin (261), and then by red states Kansas (304), Iowa (323), North Dakota (340), Missouri (348) and South Dakota (353). In the fall of 2021, Politico analyzed state pandemic responses using health, economy, social and educational factors, and found that one state, Nebraska, came out with the best overall average. Had Iowa achieved Nebraska’s COVID-19 mortality rate, over 2,600 deaths could have been prevented. (Des Moines Register)

National news

RSV surge creates risk of ‘tripledemic’

An unseasonably early and severe surge of respiratory syncytial virus is overwhelming children’s hospitals and boosting the risk of a so-called “tripledemic,” alongside flu and COVID-19. Hospitals typically see a jump in RSV cases in late winter. This year, cases began appearing this summer and have steadily risen since, creating significant capacity issues at children’s hospitals nationwide. (Becker’s Hospital Review)

How ‘radical’ staffing solutions can help ease the nursing shortage

Even after multiple waves of COVID-19, many in health care failed to grasp the singular importance of nurses. Then came the Great Resignation, which saw more than 100,000 nurses leave the profession in 2021 alone: the highest number in almost half a century. Now comes word from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that the nation will require an additional 275,000 nurses by 2030. It’s a sobering statistic at a particularly sobering moment when 30% say they’re considering leaving the industry, according to a recent McKinsey and Company survey. But it’s also an opportunity – for patients, for health systems and, most crucially, for nurses themselves. (Fast Company)

Health care workforce lost 333,942 providers in 2021

An estimated 333,942 health care providers dropped out of the workforce in 2021, according to a report from Definitive Healthcare. Definitive Healthcare analyzed medical claims data, based on the numbers of providers billing each year, in July and August 2022 to arrive at the annual estimate of providers’ workforce departures. Definitive found 117,000 physicians left the workforce in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to its analysis of medical claims. It also estimates 53,295 nurse practitioners, 22,704 physician assistants, 22,032 physical therapists and 15,578 licensed clinical social workers dropped out of the workforce in 2021. (Becker’s Hospital Review)

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