(Radio Iowa) – Iowa will no longer require experienced physician assistants — known as P-As — to be work under the direct supervision of doctor in order to practice medicine. P-As who are newly licensed, though, will have to have an agreement with a supervising doctor for two years before they may practice independently. Governor Kim Reynolds signed the bill making those changes into law today (Wednesday).

“This is a game changer for rural hospitals and it really makes a difference to be able to provide that access to Iowans who need it,” Reynolds says. “We want to make sure that we do everything we can to maintain health care in rural Iowa.” Over half of the licensed P-As in Iowa today are working in rural communities. Representative Josh Turek, of Council Bluffs, says about 40 percent of the P-As who graduate in Iowa, though, leave to practice elsewhere. “Allowing the PAs to operate independently I think will lead us to keeping more of our PAs here as we are the Harvard of the PAs,” Turek says.

The first class of P-As graduated from the University of Iowa in 1974. The P-A program at Des Moines University has been operating nearly four decades. In the past decade, St. Ambrose University in Davenport and the University of Dubuque started P-A training programs. The P-A program at Northwestern College in Orange City started in 2020.

Onawa, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Public Safety reports that at around 1:50-a.m today (Wednesday), the Monona County Communications Center responded to an individual suffering from being stabbed and was subsequently receiving medical treatment at the Burgess Health Center, Onawa.  The individual was flown Mercy One in Sioux City, Iowa.

After an investigation by the Monona County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the stabbing victim has been identified as 32-year-old Derek Webster Jr., of Monona, Iowa.  Webster Jr is currently in stable condition at Mercy One.

Inessa Lyons, 30 year old, of Monona, Iowa was arrested by the Monona County Sheriff’s Office and has been charged for Attempted Murder and Willful Injury.

Court documents indicate Webster told investigators he’d been attacked outside a bar by a white man on a motorcycle, but Lyons later admitted Webster had repeatedly asked her to take him to a store to buy more booze and she stabbed him with a knife in their kitchen.

Inessa Lyons

Note: A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

[UPDATE 7:48-A.M. 5/11] – Mr. Brown was located on 05-10-23 at approximately 6:00 pm in Tarkio Missouri. According to Council Bluffs Police, he was located by an Atchison County Missouri Deputy. He was found healthy and the family has been notified.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Police in Council Bluffs are asking for your help in locating man who hasn’t been seen since Sunday. Clint A. Brown, of Council Bluffs, was last seen driving a dark blue 2000 Chrysler Town & County Mini Van with Iowa License Plate IZG-974.

Clint Brown

The family is very concerned about his safety. If you have had any contact with him, or know of his possible location, please call 911 or make contact with the Council Bluffs Police Department at 712-328-4728, thank you.

(Radio Iowa) – A report on tax collections since July 1st of 2022 shows state revenue is up nearly two percent compared to the previous 10 month period. In March, the State Revenue Estimating Conference predicted state tax revenue would drop by half a percent this fiscal year. The uptick in ACTUAL tax receipts happened despite the state paying out 107 million dollars MORE in state income tax refunds than it did through the end of April last year.

Jeff Robinson of the Legislative Services Agency says there’s been a bit of a slow down in overall state tax collections since April 3rd, though. That includes a dip in sales tax payments to the state. Iowans who filed their 2022 STATE income tax returns by May 1st and are owed a refund should get it within the next two weeks according to Robinson.

Atlantic, IA—Officials with Cass Health say “During National Nurses Week and National Hospital Week is the perfect time to celebrate and announce that for the third year in a row, Cass Health is one of the nation’s overall top 20 critical access hospitals as determined by the Chartis Center for Rural Health.”

Cass Health CEO Brett Altman says “Though the award is called ‘Top 20,’ we understand that for each of the past three years we have actually been in the Top 10 on that list of hospitals. This puts Cass Health in the top 1% of 1,353 critical access hospitals in the country, which is a remarkable accomplishment. What really amazes me is that our team has achieved this status for three years in a row; Cass Health is one of only four hospitals in the country to have ever accomplished that feat.”

This esteemed group of hospitals was selected from the Chartis Center for Rural Health’s 2023 Top 100 Critical Access Hospital list, which was released earlier this year. The determining factors for the top hospitals are based on the results of the Hospital Strength Index and its eight performance measures, based solely on data for: inpatient market share, outpatient market share, quality, outcomes, patient survey results, cost, charge, and financial efficiency.

Altman says “Our vision is to be the best rural hospital in the country, and each year we are growing closer to that goal. By staying committed to delivering a superior experience to every patient and family, we hope to continue this trend. Not only are we grateful for our incredible staff, but also, we are thankful for our patients. Every time our patients give us top scores on patient surveys it helps us attain recognition such as this.”

The rankings were recently announced by the National Rural Health Association (NRHA), and an awards ceremony will be held during NRHA’s Critical Access Hospital Conference.