Fiber optic cable gets installed at IHA offices in Des Moines.

Construction has begun on the fiber optic connection to the Iowa Rural Health Telecommunications Program (IRHTP) network for IHA. The work is part of the IHA –coordinated network that is connecting dozens of hospitals all over the state. 

The Iowa Rural Health Telecommunications Program (IRHTP) is a joint effort consisting of a consortium of more than 80 Iowa rural and urban hospitals, IHA and the Iowa Communications Network (ICN) with the purpose to connect Iowa hospitals to a dedicated broadband fiber network using existing ICN infrastructure. 

The fiber build-out provides “last mile” fiber connection for the hospitals, Radiology Consultants of Iowa, Iowa Radiology and IHA to the closest appropriate ICN point of presence. 

With the fiber build-out complete for 12 IRHTP hospitals, another 17 in progress and another 10 connected by indefeasible right of use contracts (a 20-year lease of two strands of fiber), the build out of the IRHTP network is well underway.  Once the electronic network core is tested and operational the hospital end point electronics will be installed and tested to complete the connection to the IRHTP network. 

What does connecting to a fiber optic network mean for Iowa hospitals?  The primary benefit is being able to quickly transfer massive amounts of data to and from the hospital.  This ability is especially valuable in the area of medical imaging; high-resolution x-rays, CT, MRI and PET scans create very large files that are slow to transfer and have a tendency to “bog down” typical networks.  But with fiber-based networks, these images can be shared quickly and efficiently, a crucial tool for hospitals that need images analyzed by a radiologists in other locations. 

Fiber technology also offers opportunities to use “tele-health” to connect individual health care professionals and patients.  This technology is already being used to connect remote sessions between mental health professionals and patients, making it an important tool for states like Iowa, which has a severe shortage of psychiatrists.

For IHA, the broadband network holds the promise of bringing together hospital leaders and staff from all over the state without requiring travel, increasing IHA’s ability to provide education and information to Iowa’s hospitals and their 74,000 employees. It will also provide more efficient data transmission between IHA and hospitals, an important function as IHA continues to be the hub for a growing collection of hospital-based data in Iowa.

Hospitals in Algona, Clarion, Clarinda, Chariton, Belmond and Sioux Center, just to name a few, are undergoing some changes.

In Algona, a new three-story addition is being added, and should be finished by June. Scott Curtis, CEO of Kossuth Regional Medical Center said the first phase of the hospital’s new construction will be completed in June.

The new addition will allow for private inpatient rooms, each equipped with a full private bath. The addition will also bring about improvements on the first floor of the hospital, restructuring the dining area, kitchen and materials management area.

Curtis said that the new inpatient rooms will also include enhancements aimed at improving patient and staff safety. “We’re also adding new patient lifts to each room to increase patient and staff safety,” Curtis said.

On the exterior, the hospital is adding a healing garden, to provide recreational and scenic space for patients while in recovery.

Kossuth Regional Health Center operates a 24-bed critical access hospital, two physician clinics, home care, hospice and public health nursing agencies.

“We’re excited about the improvements this will bring for our patients and the efficiencies it will bring for our staff,” Curtis said.

The second phase is expected to be completed by December.

The timing and support of these efforts says a lot about where hospitals and health care stand among Iowa’s priorities.  Clearly, with 118 hospitals, more than 70,000 employees and $5.8 billion in economic impact, Iowans recognize the value that these institutions bring to their communities, our state and everyone’s quality of life.

Iowans are known for their generosity, but they are also thoughtful about their giving, especially in these times.  Our hospitals continue to be a sound investment. And for those who want to contribute, hospitals offer their own legacy of giving and growth that instills community pride and individual achievement.

Ringgold County Hospital will open in its new facility on December 20. The hospital replaces a building that was built nearly 60 years ago.

The new facility will provide many advantages compared to the old hospital, which was built in 1951. One of the most important aspects of the new building is the efficiency of space. The new medical complex is 61,000 square feet, a vast improvement over the old, land-locked hospital with 38,000 square feet.  With the additional space, many of the medical areas and services will become more departmentalized.

The new one-level facility will also have two entrances. The south entrance will be for patients, visitors and employees, the north is for delivery and ambulance services. The helipad will be in its own area on the north side of the building. This will eliminate the problem of re-routing traffic and parking that existed at the old facility, where he helipad is in the center of the parking lot.

Other new additions patients can expect to see will be 16 private patient rooms and seven dialysis stations. With the seven dialysis stations, it will ease the problem at the old facility of patients having to start dialysis treatment at 4:30 a.m.so everyone can get through. There will also be radiant heating panels above each station.

Construction on the new hospital began in October 2008.

Ringgold County Hospital employs more than 120 people and has a $7.2 million impact on the area.

Support ’em with makeovers
Jane Klingson, a volunteer cosmetologist at the Trinity Regional Medical Center Cancer Center, sees her work with the Look Good … Feel Better program as more than a chance to make a difference.  It’s helping cancer survivors or women fighting cancer get back what they might have lost to the disease.  November 9, Fort Dodge Messenger)

Iowa State engineers develop 3-D software to give a view inside the body
James Oliver picked up an Xbox game controller, looked up to a video screen and used the device’s buttons and joystick to fly through a patient’s chest cavity for an up-close look at the bottom of the heart.  And there was a sight doctors had never seen before: an accurate, 3-D view inside a patient’s body accessible with a personal computer.  (November 11, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News)

Unity receives grant money to help flood victims
Help is available for Muscatine County residents still feeling overwhelmed by the 2008 flood or other natural disasters.  Unity Healthcare New Horizons recently received a $19,360 grant to help prevent substance abuse in connection with natural disasters and to treat flood survivors who are struggling with substance abuse or other issues. (November 7, Muscatine Journal)

Local medical team returns from Kenya
Michele Burnes, a physician’s assistant at the Urbana Family Medical Clinic and at Virginia Gay Hospital, and Sharon Dieter, a nurse at Virginia Gay Hospital, recently returned from Kenya, where they were part of an eastern Iowa team working at a medical clinic founded by Spanda, Inc., a non-profit organization founded by Cedar Rapids optometrist DeAnn Fitzgerald.  (November 11, Cedar Valley Daily Times) 

McDonald house, Miller provide needed support
Brenda Miller’s job goes beyond fund-raising and administrative work. As executive director for the Ronald McDonald House, she often lends an ear to family members who need to talk or celebrate a milestone in their child’s life. She also works with a 26-member board of directors and manages a staff of four people.  (November 11, Des Moines Register) 

Construction begins on new VA Clinic
It’s official – and being Veterans Day, the time and place were only fitting. On behalf of the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs, members of the VA Central Iowa Health Care System formally announced the future opening of its third Community Based Outpatient Clinic Wednesday at the former Econo Foods building in Marshalltown.  (November 12, Marshalltown Times Republican)

State workers debate merits of givebacks
Unions in Iowa so rarely give up the hard-fought provisions locked into their contracts that some state employees are warning fellow workers not to do it now – even if it means 479 of them will be laid off.  (November 12, Des Moines Register) 

U.S.  Headlines

Making health care better
The crisis behind the health care debate is about one thing above all: the scattershot nature of American medicine. The fee-for-service payment system – combined with our own instincts as patients – encourages ever more testing and treatments. We’re not sure which ones make a difference, but we keep on getting them, and costs keep rising. Could the evidence-based medicine practiced at Intermountain Healthcare could be the cure for American health care?  (November 8, New York Times Magazine)

An interview with Dr. Donald Berwick
Dr. Berwick about the dynamics of the health overhaul debate. He says that most of the focus has been on cutting costs and finding the money to cover the uninsured. But often lost in the legislative tussling is a third, just as important goal: Improving the quality of care.  (November 12, Kaiser Health News) 

U.S. health care sector is a fairly green giant
According to the first estimate of the sector’s carbon footprint, the healthcare industry emits less than its share of the gases that promote global warming, compared to its size in the economy. Hospitals, nursing homes, drug companies and the rest of the sector contributed 8 percent of U.S. emissions. Hospitals are the biggest offenders, a finding that may motivate more of them to audit their energy usage and plant rooftop gardens – as one big Chicago hospital has done.  (November 11, Associated Press) 

Doctors embrace social networking
Doctors around South Florida and the rest of the country are using the social networking tools to bring patients’ families and the general public into operating rooms, sometimes sharing step-by-step medical procedures. They favor the real-time updates and videos as a way to reduce the fear factor of surgeries and educate people about the realities of certain procedures, especially new ones.  (November 11, Miami Herald)

The medical industry grumbles, but it stands to gain
The business world found plenty to complain about as it assessed the House bill that would make sweeping changes in the healthcare system and extend insurance coverage to millions more Americans. Insurers do not like the provision to create a new government-run insurance program. Drug makers oppose billions of dollars in rebates they would have to give to the government over 10 years. Medical devices are not happy about the proposed 2.5 percent tax on their products.  (November 8, New York Times) 

Current ‘death panel’ uproar echoes decades-old controversy
It was early summer. A senior federal health official wrote a memo suggesting that living wills – documents that can convey patients’ wishes about when to end life support – could help curb health-care costs. The memo leaked to the media. By August, a New York Times’ column said the official ‘likes euthanasia.’ Sound like this year’s angry August? Well, this story unfolded in 1977.  (November 10, Kaiser Health News) 

Dutch view of choice in U.S. care: it’s limited
The health system in the United States may be twice as expensive as those in Europe, and the population may be less healthy, but at least Americans have access to many more choices of doctors and insurers. Right?  No, says Ab Klink, the Dutch health minister.  (November 9, New York Times)

Iowa Headlines

Virginia Gay Hospital

It was 95 years ago this year that former Vinton resident Virginia Gay willed $50,000 to the city for the purpose of building a hospital.  With that initial donation (worth more than $1 million in today’s dollars), the hospital was able to open in 1923.  Today, her namesake hospital has more than 200 employees and provides more than $9 million to the local economy.

Much like Virginia Gay herself, the people of Vinton and Benton County continue to invest in their hospital.  More than $2 million was raised to support the $8.5 million effort.