Today’s NewsStand

Today’s NewsStand

By Iowa Hospital Association|
|June 24, 2022

Iowa news

What Iowans need to know about the new COVID-19 vaccine for children 6 months old and up

For the first time Tuesday, U.S. children above 6 months in age received doses of COVID-19 vaccinations. After the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved the vaccines last week, health care facilities statewide began administering the vaccinations. Here’s what Iowa parents need to know about the new vaccines, their dosages, and where they can take their children to be vaccinated. (Des Moines Register)

AHA announces $9.3 million to improve health, stroke care in Iowa

The American Heart Association has announced they will make a $9.3 million investment to expand and enhance rural health and stroke care across Iowa. The AHA says this will include a $6.3 million grant to fund Mission: Lifeline Stroke and a $3 million grant to help launch HeartCorps. (KCAU)

Federal broadband aid adds to Iowa’s expansion

An influx of federal funding for high-speed internet expansion has created an opportunity in Iowa that must be met, agriculture and business leaders in Iowa said Wednesday during a roundtable discussion with a representative from the federal commerce department. Rural high-speed internet in Iowa long has been a priority for politicians on both sides of the aisle. Farmers need fast and reliable internet for precision agriculture, and more recently the need became even more pronounced during the pandemic as school kids switched to online instruction, people turned to telehealth to see their doctors and more employees worked from home. (Quad-City Times)

National news

Some hospital websites are sending sensitive patient data to Facebook, report says

A tracking tool installed on some hospital websites has been gathering patients’ protected health information and sharing it with Facebook, The Markup analyzed 100 of the top hospital sites and found 33 had installed a tracker called Meta Pixel, which sends Facebook patients’ data when people schedule appointments, which could include IP addresses, physicians’ names and search terms used to find the physician. The patient data is sent to Facebook in exchange for analytics about the ads the health system places on Facebook and Instagram. (Becker’s Health IT)

CDC panel urges seniors to get new, more potent flu shot this fall

A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine advisory panel voted to recommend that Americans 65 years and older get the new, more potent flu shots because the regular shot does not offer enough protection. The CDC usually adopts the panel’s recommendations. This is the first time the federal government has backed a preferred vaccine for older adults. (Quad-City Times)

Hospitals see continued weaponization of pandemic aid

Nationwide, many hospitals face repeated claims that the $178 billion Provider Relief Fund authorized by Congress was a lavish windfall versus necessary aid for institutions that were a backbone of the nation’s public health infrastructure during the COVID-19 crisis. The argument that hospitals used pandemic aid to enrich themselves is recurring. Hospitals’ responses are the same, whether they come from American Hospital Association CEO Rick Pollack or state-level hospital associations. (Becker’s Hospital Review)

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