DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A backlog of autopsies at the Iowa Medical Examiner’s Office has been delaying the return of remains to family members.  It usually takes the office a day or two to complete an autopsy. But a spokeswoman for the office told The Des Moines Register that in the past month, a 12 percent surge in cases coupled with an understaffed office has caused delays.

Polly Carver-Kimm, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Public Health, says that at one point in the past month, the office had 32 bodies awaiting autopsy and it took up to two weeks to release remains to funeral homes. She says the situation is “not typical.” The office is budgeted for 11 full-time positions, but one position is open. It is expected to be filled.

A new report shows more Iowans bought homes in November compared to one year ago. The Housing Trends Report from the Iowa Association of Realtors (IAR) shows 3,012 homes were sold across the state last month, a nearly 15-percent increase over November 2015. I-A-R president Cindy Miller of Burlington gives credit to the unusually mild weather across the state this fall.

Despite all the snow and extreme cold THIS month, Miller expects housing sales for December will be up as well. She notes it takes roughly 45 days to close on a home, so sales completed this month started with offers in October or November. Miller says another reason home sales continue to rise in Iowa is mortgage rates remain at relatively low levels. “There still running at 4.0 or 4.25 percent, so that’s still great,” Miller said.

The median sale price of a home sold in Iowa last month was $148,000. That compares to $140,000 in November 2015.

(Radio Iowa)

After suffering financial problems for some time, Central Iowa Healthcare in Marshalltown has filed for bankruptcy. As part of the filing, C-I-H asked the court to approve a plan to sell substantially all of the C-I-H assets to UnityPoint Health – Waterloo, an affiliate of UnityPoint Health. Under the plan, all of C-I-H’s healthcare operations including the acute care hospital, emergency department, four primary care clinics, and outpatient center will operate without interruption during this time and after completion of the proposed sale transaction.

C-I-H has asked the court to approve a financing arrangement where UnityPoint Health of Waterloo has offered to support C-I-H’s operations during the bankruptcy proceeding and pending the sales transaction which is targeted for the late first quarter of 2017.

(Radio Iowa)