(Radio Iowa) – A new report has found the state’s nursing homes are facing significant financial challenges — and there’s been an 11 percent decline in the workforce for Iowa’s senior care services since the start of the pandemic. The report is from LeadingAge Iowa, a group that represents non-profit assisted living centers, home health care services and nursing homes. Matt Jahn is the Director of Health Services at Stonehill Communities in Dubuque, where there’s a long waiting list. “Because of the continued staffing shortages and the reimbursement challenges to pay more competitive wages for all of our caregivers, we’re kind of at a standstill with being able to move ahead and continue to serve more Iowans that need care,” he says.

Nearly eight out of 10 Iowa nursing home managers say they’ve used temp agencies to fill staffing gaps. Julie Thorson is the President and C-E-O of Friendship Haven in Fort Dodge. She says they’re trying to hire and keep full time staff.  “We have done everything from you know the basic – raise wages, of course, and then offer many bonuses,” she says, “whether it’s thank you bonuses or COVID bonuses.”

The report from LeadingAge Iowa found operating costs for providers of aging services increased 16 percent during the past two years. The revenue from patient care, however, rose less than half that amount. The Medicaid program pays for the care of over half of Iowa nursing home residents, but an analysis by the Iowa Health Care Association indicates Medicaid’s reimbursement rates fall about 20 percent short of actual costs.

If Medicaid rates aren’t raised, the report from LeadingEdge Iowa concludes there will be an unprecedented wave of nursing home closures. Last year, 17 nursing homes in Iowa closed and — since the beginning of THIS year — five more Iowa nursing homes have announced plans to close.

(DES MOINES, IA) – The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) has announced financial assistance for three companies in Iowa in the first round of innovation awards funded through the U.S. Department of Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). The startups are located in Algona, Coralville and Des Moines.

Iowa’s SSBCI program, announced in October 2022, is a $96 million investment in growing Iowa’s small businesses, including startups, manufacturers and businesses owned by veterans and individuals from diverse backgrounds. The State of Iowa was awarded the federal small business aid program to expand access to capital for small businesses to help them recover from the pandemic, grow and create high-quality jobs. As one of the four areas established under the initiative, the Innovation Fund increases funding opportunities across Iowa’s innovation continuum to assist entrepreneurs through concept, launch and expansion.

Innovation Fund awards
Manufacturing startup Kinetic Technologies, LLC in Algona streamlines the integration process for collaborative welding robots, improving turnaround time for production. They developed a fixturing product to pair with engineering services to make deployment scalable. The company was awarded a $175,000 Demonstration Fund loan for market planning and entry activities, key personnel and equipment.

Coralville-based IntelliSee creates “Smarter Surveillance for a Safer World” by autonomously monitoring an organization’s existing surveillance cameras 24/7/365 with artificial intelligence (AI) that detects threats, risks, and hazards. The AI’s real-time alerts allow for risk avoidance, prevention and mitigation through quick action and improved situational awareness. The company was awarded a $500,000 Innovation Acceleration Propel loan for product refinement and key personnel.

Headquartered in Des Moines, Bristola is a leading renewable energy technology and maintenance services company targeted at the renewable energy digester and liquids storage industry verticals. The patented technology cleans and inspects digesters and covered storage tanks without disruptions to ongoing operations, eliminating worker exposures and allowing for a more efficient and cost-effective process. The company was awarded a $175,000 Demonstration Fund loan for product refinement, key personnel and equipment.

Award recommendations for the SSBCI innovation funding are made by the SSBCI Review Committee to the IEDA executive director for approval. The committee met on February 7, 2023 for the first time and will meet bi-monthly to review eligible applications. Additional information on application process, deadlines and eligibility can be found at iowaeda.com/innovate.

(Radio Iowa) – Researchers at Iowa State University are studying beavers and the dams they build to determine what impact they may be having on the state’s fragile system of watersheds. The study’s name is the question they hope to answer — “Beavers: Superheroes for Water Quality?” Billy Beck, an I-S-U professor of natural resource ecology and management, says it’s still early in the three-year study, but they’re already starting to see some fascinating results. “We’re not really saying that they’re good or they’re bad at this point,” Beck says. “We just want to get some numbers on what exactly they’re doing for water quality and water quantity. For water quality, we’re looking at do they trap sediments and other nutrients behind the dam, which, nutrients can be problematic in excess, like phosphorus and nitrate.”

Beck, who’s also an I-S-U Extension and Outreach forestry specialist, says beavers were hunted to near-extinction in Iowa more than a century ago but have since rebounded. Some farmers and landowners may be annoyed by the nocturnal rodents because of the flooding caused by their dams. “Flooding is often thought of as a bad thing, but when rivers flood, a lot of good things happen for water quality and water quantity,” Beck says. “There’s a lot of nutrient deposition on our floodplains that goes into long-term storage. It’s a huge sponge that soaks up that flood velocity, preventing excessive downstream flooding.”

ISU Prof. Billy Beck (right) and grad student Andrew Rupiper at a beaver dam study site. (IA Learning Farms photo)

Beavers rarely just build one dam, it’s usually a whole string of dams, so Beck says they’re carefully testing the water in multiple areas. “We’re taking water quality samples from above, we’re checking water quality at a series of places throughout the dam chain, and then finally at the end of the chain,” Beck says. “We’re sampling those for nitrogen or nitrate, phosphorus, sediments, and then things like dissolved oxygen and temperature, things like that.” Early findings indicate that nitrate levels are being reduced by beaver dam chains at the rate of one-to-two parts per million. “Which doesn’t sound like a lot, but if you factor in all the water that runs through there and multiply that by the concentration, that’s a lot of pounds of nitrates that are being removed in that dam system,” Beck says. “Then, comparing that to an equal length of non-dammed stream, that’s a big reduction in that short of a time.”

The study, supported by the Iowa Nutrient Research Center, is looking at beaver dams in north-central Iowa, including along Prairie Creek near Fort Dodge and along Caton Branch, near Woodward. Beck says there’s been much more study in the Pacific Northwest of beavers and their impacts, especially on fish populations, but little is known about them in the agricultural landscape of Iowa.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Week 6 of the 90th General Assembly ended early with an incoming snowstorm. House District 21 Republican Representative Thomas Moore, from Griswold, said in his weekly report, the Health and Human Services Committee met Tuesday afternoon. Bills passed through committee include:

The “Child Care Physicals – Strike” bill, strikes the requirement that all personnel in a registered child care provider must have a physical prior to beginning employment. Moore said the Education Committee passed several bills, including one that requires the Department of Education to accept entry level driver training if it meets the requirements for passenger endorsement and the school bus endorsement training curriculum. Another bill would allow school boards to compensate student teachers.

The “Chapter 12 Reform” bill, he said, would:

·     Remove the requirement that schools submit a Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (CSIP).

·     Allow up to 5 days to be online instruction (snow days).

·     Allow a district to offer sequential courses in the same classroom taught by the same teacher whether it’s AP courses, regular courses, or community college courses.

·     Allow financial literacy to be taught within other courses.

Moore said House File 8 would prohibit instruction related to gender identity and sexual orientation in school districts and charter schools in kindergarten through grade six. House File224 is a bill that Moore introduced that relates to the renewal requirements associated with licenses issued by the board of educational examiners. Teachers with a masters degree and 10 yrs of experience will no longer be required to meet the 5 year re-licensure requirement. They will be responsible for a background check every 5 years. And, HF  HF123 adds an Information Technology Specialist to the list of eligible positions with a waiting of 5 pupils pertaining to Operational Sharing agreements between schools and AEA’s.

Representative Moore said the Economic Growth & Technology Committee met Wednesday, in Des Moines and passed two bills.

Moore said among the Bills that passed through the House this Week was Senate File 181 – Property Tax Rollback Calculation Fix.

“This is not meant to take away money from local governments,” he said, “because in reality, this is not money they ever should have received.”

(Radio Iowa) – A state law is now effect to limit medical malpractice claims for non-economic or so-called “pain and suffering” damages. Governor Kim Reynolds was surrounded by a large crowd yesterday (Thursday) as she held a bill signing ceremony in her statehouse office. “Because of our efforts and that includes everyone in this room — legislators and health care providers, lots of people pulling together to get this across the finish line — we’re in a much better position to recruit and retain physicians in our communities and really preserve access to care for rural Iowans.”

The law took effect as soon as the governor signed it. There is no limit on coverage for medical expenses or economic losses caused by medical errors, but pain and suffering awards in medical malpractice cases are now capped at two million dollars for hospitals and one million dollars for all other health care providers. Starting in 2028, those caps will increase by an annual inflation factor of just over two percent.

“When mistakes happen, Iowans deserve compensation, but arbitrary multi-million dollar awards do more than that. They act as a tax on all Iowans by raising the cost of care,” Reynolds says, “They drive medical clinics out of business and medical students out of state.” Former Governor Terry Branstad started pushing for medical malpractice caps more than a decade ago. Reynolds made it one of her priority issues for the 2023 Iowa Legislature.

“Iowa finally joins the majority of U.S. states in enacting common sense medical malpractice reform by placing a reasonable cap on non-economic damages,” Reynolds said. Kevin Kincaid, the C-E-O of Knoxville Hospitals and Clinics, says the law has been a priority for hospitals. “To recruit the best and brightest, to keep these providers in Iowa, we need to have a stable practice environment,” Kincaid said. “This bill is a crucial step forward in helping Iowa to be a more attractive place to practice medicine.”

Democrats and 16 Republicans in the legislature voted against the law, arguing it was unfair to place a dollar value on when a person’s life is dramatically changed or ended due to a medical error. House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst  says there’s no evidence the health care workforce issues Iowa faces are any better in states with medical malpractice caps.

“Our frustration that is was a one size fits all approach,” Konfrst says. “…Iowa patients are the true losers here.” Konfrst says the caps benefit the insurance industry, with no guarantee medical malpractice insurance rates for doctors and hospitals will be controlled.

(Waukee, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Safety report agents with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) were requested to assist the Waukee Police Department in a death investigation. Waukee Police and Fire/Rescue personnel responded at around 7:27-a.m. Thursday (2/16) to a call about a possible suicide in the 200 block of SE Boulder Court.

Upon arrival officers located two deceased persons inside the residence. Authorities say an investigation initially determined the deaths to be a murder-suicide, but the final determination will be made by the State of Iowa Medical Examiner’s Office.

They said also, that there is no threat to the public, and that the incident remains an ongoing investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – The speaker of the Iowa House and 21 of his G-O-P colleagues have introduced a bill that could delay or possibly even derail proposed carbon pipeline projects in Iowa. Representative Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison, is a lead sponsor. “I am standing up for landowners that were there first,” Holt says. If the bill becomes law, pipeline developers would have to get voluntary access to 90 percent of the pipeline route through Iowa before state utility regulators could grant the companies eminent domain authority to seize the rest.

The bill also says the Iowa Utilities Board could not issue permits until new safety guidelines for carbon pipelines are issued by the federal government AND developers secure permits from the neighboring states that the pipelines would pass through. “All of these things, again, are designed to provide some protections for our property owners that are going through this situation,” Holt says. “Some of them do not want the pipeline to come through their property.”

Legislators began discussing new pipeline specific rules last year, but took no action. Pipeline backers have said it’s unfair to change regulations after project development is well underway. Holt says it’s not the concept of capturing carbon from ethanol plants that’s the issue, it’s the use of eminent domain to seize private property for these projects that’s the concern. “Let’s talk about the landowners. Let’s talk about the Century Farms that have been there for over 100 years. Let’s talk about these property owners that don’t want this pipeline under their farms,” Hotl says. “What about them? What about the rug being pulled out from under them?”

A Republican senator has introduced five different bills to address pipeline issues, but it’s unclear what the G-O-P majority in the Senate would support. The House bill has the backing of the top Republican in the House as well as the chairmen of House committees that deal with taxation and legal issues. Holt, who chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, says the bill would set up a process for landowners to file complaints with the Iowa Utilities Board about inadequate land restoration along the pipeline route.

“The bill expands damages that can be compensated for…This includes soil compaction, damage to soil or water conservation structures and damage to irrigation or drainage systems,” Holt says. “The bill further expands the claims a landowner can bring to include any identifiable loss due to pipeline activity and then finally it allows that a landowner may file a claim of relief in either small claims or district court.” Holt says the pipelines are major issue in his district, which includes Shelby County.

The Shelby County Board of Supervisors has established local zoning rules for the pipelines — and is being sued by Summit Carbon Solutions. “It’s a huge issue for landowners that believe as I do that the use of eminent domain should be for highways, it should be for essential government services and infrastructure that meets the public good,” Holt says, “and this is a very different project that does not meet those requirements.” Holt made his comments late this (Thursday) morning during an online news conference.

A spokesman for Summit Carbon Solutions says the company announced its carbon capture project two years ago and is hopeful that legislators will not change the regulatory rules in the middle of the game.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports 42-year-old Her Tou Yang, of Detroit, Michigan, was sentenced Wednesday, February 15, 2023, to 60 months and 1 day in prison following his plea of guilty to possession with intent to distribute marijuana and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. After he is released from prison, Yang will serve two years of supervised release. His sentences was handed down in Council Bluffs U-S District Court.

On August 15, 2021, Yang possessed approximately five pounds of marijuana and a firearm that was reported stolen and sold them to another individual in Council Bluffs. On September 9, 2021, Yang possessed and sold an AR-style rifle in Council Bluffs.

The Council Bluffs Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Two men from Pottawattamie County were sentenced Wednesday in Council Bluffs U-S District Court. According to U-S Attorney Richard D. Westphal, 42-year-old  Alan Scott Lawton,  of Council Bluffs, was sentenced to 66 months (5.5-years) in prison, following his plea of guilty to being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. After he is released from prison, Lawton will serve three years of supervised release. On June 8, 2022, a law enforcement observed Lawton putting items in a storage unit. Lawton fled in his Jeep and drove through a security fence, then took off on foot. After a short chase, he was apprehended. Along Lawton’s flight path, law enforcement located a loaded pistol that had been reported stolen.

And, 35-year-old Cornelius Lavaughn David, of Council Bluffs, was sentenced to 30 months (2.5-years) in prison, following his plea of guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. After he is released from prison, David will serve three years of supervised release. In January 2022, David possessed and sold a firearm that was reported stolen. Prior to possessing the firearm, David was convicted of a felony which prohibited him from possessing firearms.

The Council Bluffs Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case against each man as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. In May 2021, the Department of Justice launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

Atlantic, Iowa —The Cass Health Foundation is hosting their annual gala on Saturday, March 25th at the Atlantic Golf & Country Club. The gala is a fundraiser for the Cass Health Foundation’s 2023 campaign to purchase vital monitoring equipment that will be used in multiple departments. Cass Health Specialty Clinic Director Traci Brockman, RN, says “Investing in monitoring equipment accomplishes two important goals: first and foremost, it keeps tally on the patient’s oxygenation, heart rate, blood pressure, and more. Secondly, it gives our nursing team back time so that they can be at the bedside, providing care, answering questions, and being attentive to patients’ needs, rather than being tied to a computer inputting data.”

Cass Health Foundation Treasurer Dave Chase spoke to the importance of the project saying, “This monitoring equipment benefits the patients most of all, because it gives the staff the ability to keep tabs on a patient’s vital signs as they move from one spot to another within the facility. Say a patient is transported from the Inpatient Services Unit to Radiology for a CT scan. From the Inpatient Services Unit, staff are able to see and monitor the patient’s real time vital signs while they are in Radiology. This puts more than one set of eyes on the patient’s vital signs, adding a layer of protection.”

The theme of this year’s gala is “Beach Bash.” Attendees are encouraged to wear beach gear like Hawaiian shirts, shorts, etc. The evening includes dinner, dessert auction, and entertainment.

Tickets to the event are limited and available through table sponsorships. For more information, please call Beth Spieker at 712-243-7545 or visit casshealth.org/donors/gala to view the details or pay online.