Iowa news A year after the measure was introduced, no Iowa hospitals have received an REH licensure designation A year after the Rural Emergency Hospital designation was introduced, no Iowa hospitals have received the federal licensure. The measure was meant to help struggling rural hospitals stay afloat by ending inpatient

Iowa news Pella Regional delivered a record-breaking 610 babies in 2023 There were 610 babies delivered at Pella Regional Health Center in 2023, a record for the hospital. The previous high mark was 607 babies born in 2019. Over half of Iowa’s 99 counties do not have obstetrics units, and

Iowa news Gilbertville EMS building brings promise of ambulance Gilbertville’s EMS building is close to 30 years old. In that time, its fire department has outgrown the facility. That will hopefully change next year: The northeast Iowa town is looking to consolidate its fire and police services under one enormous

Iowa news Nebraska lawmaker looks to partner with Iowa’s prescription drug donation program One Nebraska lawmaker’s efforts to increase recycling have led her to explore an Iowa program to donate and reuse prescription drugs and tackle rising medicine costs. Freshman State Sen. Jana Hughes of Seward is looking to join

Iowa news UI Health Care rebrands, Mercy Iowa City to be renamed Mercy Iowa City will be shedding its name and religious affiliation in early 2024, following its acquisition by the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and part of a rebrand by UIHC. Mercy’s location will be referred to

Iowa news New mental health facilities in the Des Moines metro opening soon As more Iowans continue to seek mental health services, two providers will soon open new facilities. UnityPoint Health plans to build a new, multi-million dollar mental health facility for the community. UnityPoint has two mental health facilities

Iowa news How to sort through the noise about RSV, flu and COVID-19 vaccinations One of the most-frequent queries I hear is what to do about vaccinations. Given the recent pandemic, confusion is not surprising. What is surprising is the confusion in the advice. So let’s sort out some of

Iowa news New report flags 6% of Iowans as having chronic obstructive pulmonary disease According to new data from the American Lung Association, over 12 million people in the U.S. live with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. That includes 6% of Iowa’s population. Bobby Mahajan, M.D., with the American Lung Association,

Iowa news Pella Regional Health Center continues to meet demand with new birthing center amenities Pella Regional Health Center recently began construction of a cesarean section operating room in its birthing center to help meet the growing demand for obstetrics services in the area. Over the past 20 years, there

Iowa news UIHC’s Blum among 56 hospital and health system CMIOs and CNIOs to know The physicians and nurses serving as chief medical officers and chief nursing officers are tasked with identifying new technologies, strategizing how best to integrate them into their organizations, and implementing them appropriately. Their work leads

Iowa news Several Iowa hospitals make list of 350 top hospitals for nurse communication Becker’s has compiled a list of the best hospitals for nurse communication in each state using Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems data from CMS. CMS shares 10 HCAHPS star ratings based on publicly

Iowa news Essential EMS service coming to more Iowa counties EMS is officially an essential service in four more Iowa counties. Voters in Benton, Cedar, Ida and Shelby counties approved a new tax to fund EMS. That decision puts EMS on the same level as police and fire services. EMS