Iowa news
New mental health facilities in the Des Moines metro opening soon
As more Iowans continue to seek mental health services, two providers will soon open new facilities. UnityPoint Health plans to build a new, multi-million dollar mental health facility for the community. UnityPoint has two mental health facilities in Des Moines, both on their Iowa Methodist campus. The new space will bring all mental health and behavioral services together on one campus, expanding the number of providers available and creating a one-stop shop for patients. Covenant Family Solutions also will open a new mental health clinic in Ames, their first in central Iowa. The clinic will guarantee immediate openings, eliminating wait times that often keep patients from getting timely care. (WOI)
Broadlawns hires human resources VP, chief DEI officer
Broadlawns Medical Center’s interim Vice President of Human Resources and Chief DEI Officer Maria Morgan has accepted the position permanently, effective Jan. 2, 2024. Morgan, an employment law attorney with experience in civil rights and human resources counseling, has been in the interim role since July. Morgan’s priorities will be standardizing and automating human resources processes to create positive experiences for employees and their leaders throughout the employee lifecycle. Morgan also will continue to increase recruiting and development pipelines for health care careers. (Business Record)
Axiotis named UnityPoint Des Moines Foundation president
Erica Axiotis will be the new president of the UnityPoint Health – Des Moines Foundation, effective Jan. 15. Axiotis has more than 17 years of combined experience in fundraising and health care. She most recently served as the vice president of development for ChildServe. Previously, she worked at the Mercy Foundation and Mary Greeley Medical Center. Axiotis graduated from Simpson College with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish. She also received her master’s degree in public administration from Drake University with an emphasis in health care resource development. (Business Record)
National news
Google rolls out new AI health care models
Google is launching new health care AI models to help clinicians and researchers conducting intricate studies, summarizing clinician-patient interactions and more. The suite of AI models, dubbed MedLM, comprises a large and a medium-sized AI model, both based on Med-PaLM 2, a language model trained on medical data initially announced by Google in March. As of Dec. 13, the AI model is available for eligible Google Cloud customers in the U.S. The tech company noted that the cost of the AI suite varies based on the use of different models, with the medium-sized model being comparatively more cost-effective. (CNBC)
Hospitals still reluctant to adopt virtual nursing
A survey of 100 hospital executives found that virtual nursing was the digital hospital tool with the lowest adoption rate and most overstated value. The survey found that just 13% have used virtual nursing technology in their organizations. Additionally, more than a third of leaders said the value of virtual nursing was overstated. Despite the low rate of virtual nursing adoption, 31% of hospital executives said they would be using the technology by the end of 2024. Nineteen percent of hospital executives said that the effect of virtual nursing is understated in value. (Panda Health)
AHA opposes HHS’ plan for cybersecurity fines
The American Hospital Association said HHS’ plan to levy cyberattack financial penalties on health care organizations would be counterproductive. AHA is advocating for HHS to review its proposal that requires health care organizations to be compliant with new cybersecurity requirements and imposes financial penalties for noncompliance. On Dec. 6, HHS released a concept paper that outlined a new cybersecurity strategy aimed at enhancing the security of the health care sector. (American Hospital Association)