The Page County Sheriff’s Office responded to a non-injury accident, Tuesday morning. The crash happened at around 6:40-a.m. at Juniper Avenue and Highway 2, about 6.5 miles west of Clarinda. An investigation showed that 28-year old Darin Robert Ebersole, of Shenandoah, was operating a white 2005 Ford Freestyle southbound on Juniper Avenue approaching Highway2.

Due to the road conditions, Ebersole was unable to stop, slid across the intersection and struck a tree in a yard causing the airbag on the driver’s side to deploy. Damage to the vehicle is estimated at $4500.00. Ebersole was the lone occupant of the vehicle at the time of the accident.

A GoFundMe account has been set-up for one of the youth injured in a crash on Interstate 80 Tuesday morning, in Cass County. Family members say 13-year old Madalinn Oldham was in the pickup that struck a van carrying members of presidential candidate Ben Carson’s campaign, after the van lost control on the icy Interstate.

The teens’ aunt, Sheila Flanagan, says Madalinn was airlifted to the Children’s Hospital in Omaha, where she had emergency surgery upon arrival.

Madalinn Oldham

She also has several broken bones, that may require surgery. Because, the hospital is so far away, the family will be staying in Omaha to be near her. She will be in the hospital for awhile and then will have more recovery at home once she is released.

The family is also asking for help to offset some of the expense of having to stay in Omaha to be with Madalinn.If you would like to contribute, go to https://www.gofundme.com/79k8ycc4

Officials with the Cass County Health System say the results of a recent Community Survey have been compiled and the results have been provided to CCHS by the Des Moines based independent research company, Essman/Research, which managed the survey process.

Surveys were mailed to 3,000 Cass County residents last November (1,500 surveys were mailed within the city of Atlantic and 1,500 were mailed to residents outside Atlantic), asking for feedback on perceptions of local clinic and hospital services, as well as how people search for healthcare information. The research survey Summary Report was presented to the CCMH Board of Trustees at their regular January meeting.

Survey responses were analyzed by location of residence, age, household income, years in Southwest Iowa, and gender. Residents responded to questions regarding the overall awareness of clinics and hospitals in the area, where people prefer to receive medical care, where they actually go for care, and how they view the reputation and quality of care at Atlantic Medical Center and Cass County Memorial Hospital. The survey also addressed where people search for both general healthcare information and information about Cass County Health System.

Deb Stearns, PRC, Vice President and Marketing Research Director at Essman/Research, said “Overall, the survey results were favorable. With so many healthcare options available to residents in southwest Iowa, the majority of residents who responded to the survey chose Atlantic Medical Center and Cass County Memorial Hospital for their medical care.”

Stearns identified several trends in the data and respondent comments. Residents over age 50 versus younger residents tended to rate Atlantic Medical Center and Cass County Memorial Hospital higher in regard to “overall reputation.” The same split occurred with regard to the likeliness to use Cass County Memorial Hospital for their medical care.

Areas identified as CCHS strengths included: Competent and compassionate staff, local services and easy to access, availability and ease of scheduling clinic appointments, wide range of departments and services, and clean and up-to-date facilities. Common themes in the areas for improvement included: additional in-house specialists, on-time appointments/shorter wait times in the exam rooms, communicating test results to the patient more quickly, and knowing in advance the cost of required medical procedures. Respondents also indicated a desire to have more information regarding current remodeling projects.

CCHS CEO Todd Hudspeth said “We truly appreciate every individual who took the time to complete and return the survey. We are here to serve the people of southwest Iowa, and this information will allow us to better meet their needs as we move into the future.” He added “The survey feedback is going to be utilized as we develop and work our strategic plan for the next few years.”

Abbey Stangl, Chief Financial Officer, says patients can currently obtain general price estimates for planned hospital admissions by contacting the CCMH business office. She added, “We are in the early stages of reviewing different tools that will allow patients to more easily obtain pricing information in advance of planned admissions or even at the time of admission. The Iowa Hospital Association is assisting hospitals across the state in this effort to provide more pricing transparency to healthcare consumers, and we look forward to moving in that direction over the next 12 – 24 months.”

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson says he hopes the death of one of his enthusiastic campaign volunteers will inspire more kindness in the political world.
Twenty-five-year-old Braden Joplin was one of four Carson campaign workers involved in a roll-over accident on Interstate 80 near Atlantic Tuesday morning. He was gravely injured and was taken to a trauma center in an Omaha hospital, where he died late Tuesday afternoon. Joplin was a student at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. He was among a group of student volunteers who arrived in Iowa this month to volunteer in the run-up to the February 1st Iowa Caucuses.

Carson flew to Omaha to be with Joplin’s family. Late Tuesday night he addressed the media briefly. Carson told reporters he hoped Joplin’s death “might help some people think about the hard-heartedness that has infested our land.” Carson said “people are just mean” — the opposite of Joplin, who Carson described as a compassionate and caring college student. The Des Moines Register posted video of Carson’s brief remarks. “Life is so fleeting and we have to make the most of every bit of it,” Carson said.

The van Joplin was riding in hit a patch of ice, flipped over, slid into on-coming traffic and was hit by a pick-up carrying three children and two adults. Carson is asking for prayers for Joplin’s family, as well as the people in the pick-up that struck the Carson campaign vehicle.

(Radio Iowa)

The driver of an SUV was injured Tuesday morning in Union County, when his vehicle collided with the rear of a semi. Sheriff’s officials say 60-year old David Stonehocker, of Thayer, suffered suspected, serious/incapacitating injuries when the 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee he was driving hit the rear of a trailer being pulled by 1994 Freightliner semi. The accident happened on Willow Avenue (County Road P-64), just before 10-a.m.

Officials say Stonehocker, was driving too fast for conditions, was wearing a lap belt only. The SUV’s airbags also deployed during the crash. Stonehocker was trapped in his vehicle following the impact, and had to be extricated by mechanical means. He was transported to the hospital in Creston. The driver of the semi, 62-year old Danny Neisemier, of Thayer, complained of pain, but was not transported to the hospital.

Damage from the crash amounted to $16,000.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors today (Wednesday) approved a Resolution of Support for “Stepping Up,” a national initiative to reduce the number of people with mental illnesses in jail, and make further efforts to help them on a path to recovery.

The resolution was presented last week by Supervisor Frank Waters, for the Board’s consideration. During the previous meeting, Auditor Dale Sunderman read a portion of the resolution as presented. In summary, the Resolution acknowledges that an estimated 2 million people with serious mental illnesses are booked into jail each year, and that the prevalence rates of serious mental illness in jails are three-to six-times higher than for the general population. It also acknowledges adults with mental illnesses tend to stay longer in jails and upon release are at higher risk of recidivism, and, that without the appropriate treatment and services, people with mental illnesses continue to cycle through the criminal justice system, often resulting in tragic outcomes for those individuals and their families.

The Resolution says since Cass County is a member of the Southwest Iowa MHDS Region, and is working cooperatively with other counties to provide funding necessary to meet the needs of the mental health and disability community, the County will support an expansion of the Southwest Iowa Mental Health Court through its services and staff, law enforcement and attorney’s offices in the MHDS Region. It will do so through the Stepping Up program. For more information on Stepping Up, go to https://stepuptogether.org/

In other business, the Supervisors approved the appointment of Emily Paulsen, of Elk Horn, to the Cass County Food Policy Council, with the term of appointment ending Dec. 31st, 2018. The Board also received a quarterly report from Cass County Veteran Affairs Executive Director Mitch Holmes.