Iowa news
SEIU health care workers ratify new contract
Nurses and other health care professionals at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics who are members of the Service Employees International Union Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa have ratified a new contract with the hospital. Highlights of the contract include increases to base pay for all job classes in the agreement, and across the board for existing employees, eliminating maximum salaries from the contract and extending the Labor-Management Committee to continue discussing issues and solutions. (Our Quad Cities)
Hospital, fire department work together to procure protective gear
In response to the increase of threats nationwide in recent years, Clarke County Hospital EMS, local volunteer EMS responders and the Osceola Fire Department began looking for ways to add protection when responding to scenes by way of ballistic vests, helmets and response gear. The idea of Clarke County Hospital’s EMS crews having ballistic vests was first brought to the hospital’s attention when one of their paramedics expressed an interest in getting the gear. Clarke County Hospital received three grants to buy the vests and other equipment. As of mid-February, all the new protective gear and equipment had been ordered. (Osceola Sentinel-Tribune)
How a pen and paper forged an important connection between patient and nurse
Erin Miller possesses the ability to bring relief to the soul as well as to the body. Miller, a staff nurse in the Surgical and Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit at UI Hospitals and Clinics, values effective communication with patients, knowing it can make all the difference in their experience under her care. Recently, a patient with cancer was admitted to the SNICU, bleeding profusely from his mouth, nose, and trachea. Thinking quickly, Miller grabbed a pen and paper, using it to communicate with the patient who was unable to speak. (The Loop)
National news
Black diabetes patients welcome Eli Lilly’s price cap, but say systemic medical barriers remain
The news that Eli Lilly will cap out-of-pocket costs for its insulin at $35 per month brought relief to some. But systemic problems with insurance coverage and misdiagnosis that continue to challenge many with diabetes remain. The price cap will have a major effect on Black people with diabetes, who are more prone to struggle to pay for insulin. Beyond the cost of insulin, larger structural inequities contribute to poorer health outcomes for Black Americans as a whole, especially those with diabetes. (NBC News)
Private-public partners release guide to implementing cybersecurity framework
The Health Sector Coordinating Council public-private partnership and Department of Health and Human Services released a guide to help health care organizations align their cybersecurity practices with the National Institute for Standards and Technology’s Cybersecurity Framework to better protect the health care sector. The guide represents the collective technical cyber expertise of both the health care sector and government through HHS and NIST and follows on the heels of the White House National Cybersecurity Strategy that articulates a combined and coordinated approach between the government and private sector to help defend critical infrastructure from cyberthreats. (American Hospital Association)
Chinese lab leak theory for coronavirus pandemic deserves further investigation, Congress hears
Experts called by the Congressional Republicans at the first national-level hearing into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic say the U.S. should continue investigating whether a Chinese lab accidentally released the COVID-19 infection. Most international health experts have downplayed that possibility, instead preferring to focus on learning from the global response itself to the pandemic that has killed an estimated 7 million people worldwide. A new subcommittee formed after Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in January is examining theories that have been widely dismissed by the scientific community as racist conspiracies. None of the witnesses called by the Republican-controlled House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic provided new evidence proving their contention that the virus came from a lab but cited events, grant proposals and other incidents as too coincidental to ignore. (USA Today)