Iowa news
State board approves Ames outpatient surgery center
Mary Greeley Medical Center and McFarland Clinic have received certificate-of-need approval from the Iowa Department of Public Health for the development of an outpatient ambulatory surgery center in Ames. This is an important step in the development of the project, which still needs approval of both organizations’ boards. Endoscopies and surgical procedures will be performed at the center by physicians who specialize in ENT, gastroenterology, general surgery, gynecology, ophthalmology, orthopedics, plastic surgery, podiatry and urology. (Mary Greeley Medical Center)
COVID-19 damaged 1.6 million people’s sense of smell. Hers hasn’t come back.
Researchers say as many as 1.6 million people have long-term olfactory disorders caused by the virus. What was once an overlooked, invisible disability – one with no reliable test or consistent measurement – has been thrust into the spotlight. Although Americans knew the coronavirus might steal their sense of smell, at least temporarily, long-term parosmia has come as a shock to many. They’d never heard of the condition that now makes them retch at the scent of their favorite foods or experiences, or even the people they love. (Des Moines Register)
UnityPoint-St. Luke’s, Kirkwood partnership hoping to recruit more nurses
A new partnership between UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital and Kirkwood Community College is hoping to address the nursing shortage at the hospital. The Nursing Promise Program is open for students graduating this year and next, and will give them financial assistance if they agree to work in an area of need at St. Luke’s for 18 months. Workers with the hospital say there’s a shortage in almost all of their departments. They hope this program will help recruit, and retain nurses. (KCRG)
National news
Telemedicine: Rewriting health care standards as new policies emerge
The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on systemic inefficiencies in the health care space and proven that the value of remote medicine goes far beyond a short-term solution during a global pandemic. At the core of its adoption lays an emerging policy framework that extends Medicare telehealth reimbursement and prescribing waivers beyond the COVID-19 public health emergency. The economic and social benefits of telemedicine are creating an environment in which the technology will be ingrained across health care verticals. (Mindstray)
The symptoms and causes of monkeypox infections, which CDC calls an ’emerging issue’
More than 85 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 11 countries across Europe and North America, and in Australia, a rare occurrence for a virus largely confined to central and western Africa. The U.S. comfirmed its first two monkeypox cases of the year. Most countries have more suspected cases awaiting confirmation. The last time the Western Hemisphere saw a monkeypox outbreak of this magnitude was in 2003, when the U.S. identified 47 cases. (NBC News)