Iowa news
Mercy College of Health Sciences raises historic $1.2 million
Founding members of the newly established donor recognition program, the 1899 Society, raised a historic $1.2 million to advance Mercy College of Health Sciences’ mission of transforming students into successful health care professionals. The 1899 Society publicly launched this month during the inauguration of Adreain Henry, Mercy College’s fourth president. Joyce and Terry Lillis made the lead gift of more than $250,000, the largest gift in the college’s history, to form this society. The funds raised through the 1899 Society will benefit Mercy College students and the campus community by supporting facility improvements as part of a master campus plan. (Mercy College of Health Sciences)
University of Iowa eyeing two finalists for restarted search for medical affairs leader
Eight months after unveiling four finalists to become vice president for medical affairs and dean of the Carver College of Medicine, the University of Iowa again is bringing to campus its top prospects. Two finalists will participate in open forums in early May when they also will meet with faculty, staff, students and campus leaders. The finalist will succeed Brooks Jackson, who announced more than a year ago plans to resign and resume his research as a university faculty member. (The Gazette)
Disability Rights Iowa planning mental health panel conversation
Disability Rights Iowa will host a panel presentation in Iowa City about assistance animals for mental health from noon to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 10. Satellite viewings will be available in Des Moines, Ottumwa, Cedar Rapids and Chariton, and online streaming of the event will be available afterward. The panel will include six people who collectively have legal expertise, mental health expertise and lived experience, and the panel will be moderated by a legal expert. Continuing education credits will be available for lawyers, social workers and mental health professionals. (The Daily Nonpareil)
National news
CommonSpirit Health rolls out new virtual nursing technology
CommonSpirit Health has launched the first virtual nursing program in its system, at Saint Joseph Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. As part of the initiative, a virtual registered nurse helps the bedside nurse and patient care assistant, leads multidisciplinary rounds and helps with charting, education and discharges. Patients and their families also can access the virtual nurses through the tap of a screen. (Becker’s Health IT)
As the clinical disruptions caused by COVID-19 have begun to stabilize, hospitals are confronting persistent organizational and financial challenges. These include supplementing a depleted workforce with expensive temporary labor and facing the same inflationary pressures that have gripped the country since mid-2021. Financial reserves enabled hospitals to keep their doors open during the early months of the pandemic, when most were required to suspend nonemergency procedures and to obtain the extra staffing and personal protective equipment needed to care for COVID-19 patients who flooded their intensive care units during the initial surges. Without these reserves, many hospitals would have undoubtedly had to close or limit services to their community. (FIERCE Healthcare)
FDA updates use recommendations for Halyard surgical N95 respirator
The Food and Drug Administration has announced that health care providers without alternative options may continue to use a certain version of the O&M Halyard FLUIDSHIELD Surgical N95 Respirator Mask for fluid barrier protection if they wear a face shield over the respirator. The FDA had announced that health care providers and consumers should not use certain N95 respirators made by O&M Halyard because they do not meet quality and performance expectations, and should not use certain surgical masks and pediatric face masks made by the company for fluid barrier protection. (American Hospital Association)