Today’s NewsStand

Today’s NewsStand

By siglerr|
|March 17, 2023

Iowa news

Clarinda Regional receives DEI certification, names inclusion officer

Clarinda Regional Health Center has received certification in diversity, equity and inclusion from StonehillDEI, and to further its DEI initiative, the hospital has named Maggie Brown Chief Inclusion Officer. StonehillDEI has identified the most powerful practices and processes that support success in today’s complex and challenging environment. Clarinda Regional Health Center’s achievement, as the first organization in Iowa to be DEI certified by StonehillDEI as an inclusive, equitable organization, positions them on the cutting edge of retaining and recruiting people to promote health equity and community engagement. (The Red Oak Express)

University of Iowa Hospitals seeking participants for new clinical trial for certain colon cancer patients

The University of Iowa Hospitals is aiming to change the way colon cancer is treated with a new clinical trial, which will use immunotherapy. The protocol has been approved the university’s institutional review board and is ready to enroll patients. The clinical trial should start accepting applications Monday, March 20. (WQAD)

Care facility shuts down without 60 days’ notice to residents and the state

The Rock Rapids Care Centre shut down operations and relocated its residents last month without giving families or regulators the 60-day notice outlined in state law. The process used to close the Lyon County facility comes at a critical time for Iowa, with some industry officials predicting Iowa could soon be hit by a wave of nursing home closures. Florida-based Arboreta Healthcare, which owns the Rock Rapids center, says the closure is temporary. Advocates for seniors fear that other care facilities will follow Rock Rapids’ lead and shut down without giving regulators, residents and families 60 days’ notice to plan for safe, orderly transitions. (The Observer)

National news

Temp nurses cost hospitals big during the pandemic. Lawmakers are now mulling limits.

To crack down on price gouging, proposed legislation in Missouri calls for allowing felony charges against health care staffing agencies that substantially raise their prices during a declared emergency. These proposed regulations and others in at least 11 more states come after demand for travel nurses, who work temporary assignments at different facilities, surged to unprecedented levels during the worst of the pandemic. No substantial federal action has occurred, so states are trying to take the next step. But the resulting regulatory patchwork could pose a challenge to hospitals in states with rate caps or other restrictive measures. (USA Today)

FDA authorizes updated Pfizer COVID-19 booster for certain children under 5, updates J&J vaccine fact sheets

The Food and Drug Administration amended its emergency-use authorization for Pfizer’s updated COVID-19 vaccine to allow children aged 6 months through 4 years old to receive a single booster dose at least two months after completing three Pfizer monovalent vaccine doses. The agency has not yet authorized a Pfizer bivalent booster in children who received a bivalent dose for the third dose in the Pfizer primary vaccine series. The FDA also revised its fact sheets for health care providers administering and patients receiving the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to warn about increased risks for myocarditis and pericarditis, particularly in the first week after vaccination, as well as facial paralysis. (American Hospital Association)

New double lung transplant technique is successful in two late-stage cancer patients

A novel treatment for certain late-stage lung cancers has succeeded in the first two patients to undergo the operation. Using knowledge learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, surgeons at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago successfully performed double-lung transplantations in two patients with stage 4 cancer. Northwestern’s program plans to track the first 75 cancer patients to receive a double-lung transplant. They hope what they learn from these patients in the long term will help other surgery centers carry out the procedure as well. (NBC News)

Become a hospital advocate. Sign up for IHA Action Alerts.

Click here