Today’s NewsStand

Today’s NewsStand

By siglerr|
|March 15, 2023

Iowa news

Briar Cliff University announces redesign to health care workforce training facility

Following the $2 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration and added support from the Missouri River Historical Development and other donors, Briar Cliff University has worked alongside CMBA Architects and Project Advocates to finalize plans for a new health care workforce training facility. The university has increased its fundraising goal to allow an aggressive redesign, focused on enhancing equitable access to health care and education for students in the tri-state area. Previously named the School of Interprofessional Health and Help Sciences, the facility now will be named the College of Health and Equity. The completion of the College of Health and Equity is slated for May 2025. (Briar Cliff University)

UnityPoint Health to offer free heart-focused class this month

On Tuesday, March 28, UnityPoint Health will host Heart to Heart, a free community education series focused on heart disease prevention and education as well as treatment and ways people can live more heart-healthy. This event will be presented by Dr. Teresa Pangan, prevention and wellness strategist, and Tammy Thurston, RN, cardiac rehab lead at Trinity Muscatine. Together, they will teach the benefits of cardiac-focused exercise such as aerobics, weight training and flexibility exercise. Besides giving examples of these types of heart-healthy exercises, the event will teach participants the signs and symptoms of exercise overexertion, further giving them the tools needed to help them exercise in a constructive and safe manner. (Muscatine Journal)

Board of trustees approves new name and brand for Winneshiek Medical Center

Winneshiek Medical Center’s Board of Trustees approved a new name and brand for the organization. Effective early summer 2023, the name will change from Winneshiek Medical Center to WinnMed. A new tagline to support WinnMed was also adopted by the board of trustees: Excellence lives here. As under the legacy name and brand of Winneshiek Medical Center, Mayo Clinic Health System will provide clinic and many hospital physician and administrative services at WinnMed. (Winneshiek Medical Center)

National news

Health care providers turn to embedded finance to help underserved patients

As consumers struggle to pay for essentials, a long-used retail solution could help patients get much-needed care. Embedded finance is a tool used in retail for decades, in which non-banking entities use banking tools such as private-label credit cards or lending in their commercial products. With patients needing more help with their bills than ever, providers may consider embedded finance tools as an option to both administer medical care and the tools to finance these services. (PYMNTS)

Long COVID-19 has some weird symptoms. Face blindness may be one of them.

New research suggests a COVID-19 infection can, at least in rare cases, trigger prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness where people lose the ability to identify faces. More than 50 long COVID-19 patients reported to Dartmouth College researchers in a new study they were having trouble identifying faces after their infection. Prosopagnosia can cause substantial social problems and though it is possible to improve facial recognition with practice, there is no cure for the impairment. (USA Today)

Health system CEOs’ leadership styles are evolving

After the last few years of guiding organizations through the pandemic and facing extreme financial and operational challenges this year, health system CEOs are turning to a tried-and-true leadership tactic to balance growth and innovation with the realities of shrinking margins, workforce shortages and increased competition: authentic leadership. Authentic leaders create meaningful relations while achieving their goals, which are tied beyond the bottom line to the organization’s mission. Health care is going through massive changes this year. Nonprofit hospitals had weaker profitability and liquidity last year than in 2021 and expenses increased while investments dropped. Margins aren’t expected to hit pre-pandemic levels any time soon and labor shortages are expected to keep wages high. Authentic leaders understand the difficulties, but won’t let them stand in the way of meeting goals and creating a mission-driven culture. (Becker’s Hospital Review)

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