Iowa news
UnityPoint Clinic-Express to open in Ankeny
UnityPoint Health will open a UnityPoint Clinic-Express location in Ankeny Monday, May 24. The clinic is a new model of walk-in care UnityPoint Clinic launched in 2019 that aims to shorten waiting times for patients. The Ankeny clinic, at 1055 S.W. Oralabor Rd., will be the third Express location, with existing Express clinics at Jordan Creek and Waukee. The clinics are designed to handle minor illness and injuries. (Business Record)
Des Moines metro hospitals loosen COVID-19 visitor restrictions
Des Moines metro hospitals are loosening COVID-19 visitor restrictions. Broadlawns, MercyOne Des Moines and UnityPoint will allow each patient to have two visitors at a time. Visitors must wear masks and take other COVID-19 safety measures. They also must be at least 16. Patients generally were allowed just one visitor before the changes were announced. (KCCI)
New, free service offers counseling for Iowa farm families
Being a farmer means dealing with a continually unpredictable career field with challenges far beyond your control whether it be severe weather, market prices or international trade disputes. Iowa Farm Family Wellness Alliance, a new first-in-the-nation service created by Farm Foundation and Iowa State Extension, provides farmers and their families with support for their health from various experts. (KWWL)
National news
Hospitals may be overcounting how many kids are admitted for COVID-19 in the US, study finds
A new study found health care providers may be overcounting the number of kids hospitalized for COVID-19, overestimating the small impact the disease has on children. Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine analyzed COVID-19 data from Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford from May 10, 2020, to Feb. 10. During the nine-month period, 117 patients under 18 either tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 at the hospital or were hospitalized for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C. (USA Today)
Opinion: Workplaces have important role to play in employee mental health
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and it comes at a unique time in our history. Following a year of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects, discussions around mental health are happening more frequently around kitchen tables, board rooms and in circles of friends. That’s because perhaps more of us than ever are experiencing symptoms of mental illness ourselves: In January 2021, about 4 in 10 adults in the US reported symptoms of anxiety or depression, according to the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey. That’s up from 1 in 10 before the pandemic began. (Des Moines Register)
Back to normal? Psychologists warn the pandemic could have lasting effects
As life slowly returns to some version of normalcy in the U.S., psychologists are confronting a difficult reality: Many people won’t be back to normal anytime soon. That means the work of many mental health professionals is only starting. Psychologists are ramping up efforts to understand how the pandemic has affected Americans’ minds — with an eye on inequality and long-term reverberations. (NBC News)