Iowa news
ChildServe’s 30th annual golf event raises over $181,000
ChildServe, a specialty pediatric health care provider for children and young adults with special health care needs, raised more than $181,000 during its 30th annual golf outing this month at Glen Oaks Country Club in West Des Moines. Over 200 golfers participated in the event. Proceeds will support ChildServe’s annual fund. Fundraising from the golf outing will help provide winter necessities and groceries to families in need. (Business Record)
Experts urge Iowans to get respiratory virus vaccinations ASAP
Respiratory virus season is approaching, and experts are urging Iowans to get their vaccinations as soon as possible. This week federal officials approved the newest updated COVID-19 booster, which is expected to be available to Iowans soon. Nathan Shaw, the medical director of urgent care at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, recommends Iowans get their flu and RSV shots before cases start to increase in order to build up immunity. (Iowa Public Radio)
Avera Health announces new president, CEO
James Dover has been named Avera Health’s president and chief executive officer. Dover has been an executive in health care for more than 30 years. He replaces Bob Sutton, who resigned this summer because of a health issue. Dover has been the president and CEO of Sparrow Health in Lansing, Michigan, The system includes a teaching and Level 1 trauma hospital, four regional hospitals and 120 sites of care. Its population mix includes rural and urban residents. He also was in leadership roles for systems in Illinois, California and Colorado. (Aberdeen Insider)
National news
Hospitals urge Congress to scrap $8B in cuts as shutdown looms
Over 250 hospitals and health systems are urging Congress to halt the $8 billion reduction to Medicaid disproportionate share hospital funding, set to begin Oct. 1. The funding cuts, part of the Affordable Care Act, will curb Medicaid disproportionate share hospital funding by $8 billion in fiscal years 2024 through 2027 — a $32 billion reduction total. In their appeal to Congress, safety-net hospitals urged lawmakers to “eliminate, at a minimum” the $16 billion in cuts scheduled for fiscal years 2024 and 2025. (Becker’s Hospital Review)
Health care workers urge CDC to reconsider proposed mask guidance
Nurses, researchers and workplace safety officers worry new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention might reduce protection against the coronavirus and other airborne pathogens in hospitals. A CDC advisory committee has been updating its 2007 standards for infection control in hospitals this year. Many health care professionals and scientists expressed outrage after the group released a draft of its proposals in June. (KFF Health News)
Behavioral health patients lack choice on telehealth vs. in-person care
A new Rand study found many behavioral health patients want the choice to pursue in-person visits. Eighty percent of people undergoing individual therapy had telehealth visits in the prior year compared with 42% who reported in-person visits. Meanwhile, those attending visits to get medicine were about even in their use of in-person and virtual care, with 54% receiving telehealth visits compared with 58% seeking in-person visits. (Healthcare Dive)