by Scott McIntyre on Thursday, February 2, 2012
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Iowa’s community hospitals generate more than 136,000 jobs that add nearly $6.2 billion to the state’s economy, according to the Iowa Hospital Association’s latest Iowa hospital economic impact report. In addition, Iowa hospital employees by themselves spend $1.7 billion on retail sales and contribute more than $104 million in state sales tax revenue.
“People are often unaware of the contributions that hospitals make to their local economies, including the number of people they employ, the significance of hospital purchases with local businesses and the impact of their employees’ spending for the entire region,” said Kirk Norris, IHA president/CEO. “Just as no one provides the services and community benefits found at our hospitals, there is also no substitute for the jobs and business hospitals provide and create.”
The IHA study examined the jobs, income, retail sales and sales tax produced by hospitals and the rest of the state’s health care sector. The study was compiled from hospital-submitted data on the American Hospital Association’s Annual Survey of Hospitals and with software that other industries have used to determine their economic impact.
The study found that Iowa hospitals directly employ 70,363 people and create another 65,783 jobs outside the hospital sector. As an income source, hospitals provide $3.9 billion in salaries and benefits and generate another $2.3 billion through other jobs that depend on hospitals.
In all, Iowa’s health care sector, which includes employed clinicians, long-term care services and assisted living centers, pharmacies and other medical and health services, directly and indirectly provides 333,554 Iowa jobs, or more than one-fifth of the state’s total employment.
Complete information from the study, including economic impact data for each of Iowa’s hospitals, is available on the IHA website.
by Scott McIntyre on Monday, January 16, 2012
Fifty-four Iowa towns and cities have submitted applications to be among the first demonstration sites for the state’s Blue Zones Project, a cornerstone of the Healthiest State Initiative. Demonstration sites are communities where Blue Zones principles will be applied with the assistance of national experts and will serve as models to other communities in Iowa.
In November, 58 communities were invited to submit applications based on previously submitted statements of interest indicating their desire to become a Blue Zones Project demonstration site. These communities were chosen based on a mixture of criteria, including civic structure and engagement and how many residents live and work within the community. Collectively, the 54 communities that provided applications represent the geographic and demographic diversity of Iowa.
Hospitals continue to be key players and motivators in the Blue Zones process.
“Promoting healthier lives has always been the mission of Spencer Hospital and it’s really exciting to see such a great grassroots effort in our community working to achieve Blue Zones status,” commented Bill Bumgarner, CEO at Spencer Hospital. “Community members are already embracing health improvement initiatives and striving to live healthier. We anticipate this movement continuing to grow with the potential support of the Blue Zones initiative.”
“Assuming an even greater accountability for the wellness of our community is an exciting and daunting challenge,” said Susan Thompson, CEO of Trinity Regional Medical Center in Fort Dodge. “I am pleased the Fort Dodge community has embraced this opportunity and stepped forward in partnership. As the community hospital and leader in health promotion, we are very engaged in this process remaining hopeful while looking forward to be named a Blue Zone community.”
Teresa Newman
Teresa Newman, Trinity Regional’s healthy living manager, has been one of the leaders in Fort Dodge’s Blue Zones effort. She said the application process was beneficial.
“Many of us on the committee were unaware of programs currently offered by various businesses in our community,” Newman said. “This new-found awareness will allow us to work together to enhance and collaborate our current program offerings as well as develop new programs. That was definitely an unexpected benefit of the Blue Zones application process.”
Upon assessment of the applications, up to 10 finalist communities will be announced on February 10. These selected communities will host site visits from February 27-March 16. This process will culminate with the selection of the demonstration sites in May.
Communities not chosen as demonstration sites will also benefit. An Iowa “Blue Zones Institute” is being established this year to provide leadership training and tools to help leaders transform their communities, work places and home environments, using a self-directed approach to becoming a Blue Zones Community. An online learning collaborative to showcase how communities have implemented Blue Zones principles as well as a suite of online tools is also being developed.
For more information in the Iowa Blue Zones Project, click here.
by Scott McIntyre on Thursday, January 12, 2012
An Iowa Health-Des Moines nurse checks on a newborn.
Miracles happen at hospitals every day. Nowhere is that more evident than on the obstetrics unit – where the babies are. This is not just where infants are born, it’s where families are made and enhanced. It’s where lives are changed in a way that is joyous and forever.
But there was no miracle for the twin girls born late last week and then found dead in the trunk of their mother’s car in Story County. Now their mother, Jackie Burkle, is facing murder charges. Few details have emerged about the case, but there is only real question: Why? What would lead a young woman to give birth and then allow – if not purposely bring about – the deaths of her infant daughters?
This is particularly frustrating for hospitals and the people who work in them, not only because they are mission-bound to protect lives, particularly the lives of children and other vulnerable people, but because there are laws – laws that hospitals advocated for – to help these mothers in distress and their babies.
Iowa’s “safe haven” law was put on the books in 2001. Under the law, which was strongly supported by IHA, unwanted babies age 14 days or younger can be surrendered at a hospital or even a nursing home. The law provides that the child’s parents will be immune from prosecution (assuming the child is unharmed), their identities will be kept private and the child will be cared for and eventually adopted.
Fourteen Iowa infants have been adopted under the law. But, sadly, at least a half dozen have died since then in circumstances similar to those playing out in Story County.
In response, IHA worked with the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) and former Iowa First Lady Mari Culver to produce television (see video below) and radio ads in 2007 that explained the law and promoted hospitals as safe havens. The ads ran that summer on television and radio programs that were popular with young people.
Maybe it’s time that a coalition of Iowa human and health services organizations (including hospitals) – as well as state agencies – figured out how to ensure that a minimal year-to-year effort is made to raise safe havens awareness. It may never be enough to keep these tragedies from happening, but safeguarding the lives of newborns deserves more than nothing.
by Scott McIntyre on Wednesday, January 4, 2012
The innovative Undergraduate Rural Medicine Education and Development (URMED) program created four years ago in Storm Lake through a partnership between Buena Vista Regional Medical Center (BVRMC) and Buena Vista University (BVU) has reached another milestone.
Beginning this month, Lakes Regional Healthcare at Spirit Lake will join the network of hospitals participating in URMED, which also includes BVRMC, Humboldt Community Hospital, Loring Hospital in Sac City and Pocahontas Community Hospital. The increase in hospital participation also created an additional internship position in the program.
BVRMC provides experiential learning opportunities throughout the academic year for BVU students pursuing careers in medicine and other health care professions, says Dr. Richard Lampe, professor of biology who helped develop the URMED partnership. Lampe is also current chair of the BVRMC Board of Trustees.
The capstone of the URMED program is an intensive January internship for selected BVU pre-med students who have an interest in practicing rural medicine. Students compete for the January internship slots, which include $3,000 stipends to help defray the costs of applying to medical school.
The URMED program was designed as one possible solution to the impending national shortage of physicians and other health care practitioners in rural communities. URMED has attracted interest from the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine as well as a national program that seeks to interest young people in health care careers, notes Lampe.
URMED program interns (in white coats, left to right) Sabrina Martinez, Cammy Matters, Whitney Nelson and Alex Davis are joined by Rob Colerick, CEO of Buena Vista Regional Medical Center.
While the URMED alumni have no obligation to return to the communities where they interned, BVU science faculty, and officials at BVRMC and the other participating hospitals stay in regular contact and build ongoing relationships with them. “We have already seen interest in several medical students in coming back to Storm Lake to practice,” notes Lampe. The URMED program is also attracting new students interested in health care careers to BVU, he notes.
Students selected for the 2012 URMED January internships are:
- Cammy Matters, a junior biology major from Humboldt
- Whitney Nelson, a junior biology and history double major from Audubon
- Alex Davis, a junior biology major from Webster City
- Sabrina Martinez, a non-traditional student from Storm Lake, who is completing her pre-med course requirements at BVU. A 2008 Columbia University graduate in political science, she is a former admissions representative and assistant director of admissions at BVU.
Matters, Nelson and Davis will each intern at BVRMC for two weeks and then one week at the hospitals in Humboldt, Sac City, or Pocahontas. Martinez will spend all three weeks of her internship at Lakes Regional Healthcare at Spirit Lake.
During their internships, the students will work alongside physicians and other health care practitioners to learn what it is like to interact with patients in hospital, surgery, emergency room and clinical settings. They can also attend lectures and continuing education programs for medical staff.
The participating hospitals and BVU, through donor support, provide the financial resources for the stipends. “This year we had nine very fine URMED applicants but could only fund the four internships,” notes Lampe. “If we had additional financial support and participation from other area hospitals we could grow the program to accommodate the interest that our BVU students are showing in rural medical careers.”
So far, six BVU graduates and two current students have completed URMED January internships. Two are now enrolled in medical schools and others are working in related fields and plan to reapply to med schools, or are in graduate programs.
Two 2009 BVU graduates, Kyle Glienke of Aurelia and James Alstott of Laurens, also completed internships at BVRMC that became the model for the URMED program, says Lampe. They are third-year medical students at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and were on campus in September to talk with URMED students about their experiences in medical school.
by admin on Tuesday, December 6, 2011
The number of Iowa cities and towns still in the running to be among the 10 chosen as Blue Zones communities has been narrowed to 58 . Those communities have been invited to move on to the next step in the process, which is to submit a formal application by January 4, 2012. Early in November, 84 communities completed the first step of the Blue Zones process by providing a basic “statement of interest.”
At that time, about three-fourths of the communities were home to at least one hospital. Now, all but a few of the invited applicants are hospital communities and hospital leaders are excited to be part of the process.
“From the start of this project, Pella’s effort has been a true community effort,” said Bob Kroese, CEO of Pella Regional Health Center. “We’ve had numerous meetings with representation from our industries, schools, small businesses as well as the health care organizations. It’s rewarding to see the community take hold of the Blue Zones concept and support it.”
“People expect, and should, that the hospital in their community will take a strong leadership role in improving the health of the community and we were excited to step up.” said Jason Harrington, CEO of Lakes Regional Healthcare in Spirit Lake. “Although it’s always been the responsibility of the community hospital, there is a renewed commitment due the changes we’re seeing under health care reform and with managing population health. Strategically speaking, Blue Zones is a great fit for us.”
“We have heard nothing but positive comments from our community and its leaders,” said Kyle Richards, CEO of Waverly Health Center. “Our community has many of the components already in place and Waverly wants to take the next step with bringing it altogether in our evolution of being a Blue Zones community.”
Members of Waverly's Blue Zones Advisory Board met on December 6.
If the statement of interest was the communities simply raising their hands, the actual application requires each community to stand up and make the case of for inclusion in the demonstration project. Among other factors, the application must show the community has a relatively streamlined local government structure with only one city council and school district and that most of the population lives and works within the community.
Project resources, like meeting places and office space for the Blue Zones team, must be available and local leaders and media must indicate their willingness to participate. Each community is expected to maintain a Facebook page. And along with showing community support for Blue Zones participation (which is tracked through an online scoreboard), the community should be able to illustrate strong volunteer support for past projects.
Following assessment of the formal applications, a group of finalist communities will be selected to host site visits between February 27, 2012 and March 16, 2012. This process will culminate with the selection of the first group of lead communities in May of next year.
The Blue Zones Project is based upon findings from an eight-year worldwide longevity study to identify common elements of the world’s longest-lived cultures. Blue Zones uses third-party research and direct studies to identify the world’s best practices in longevity and well-being. Working in collaboration with the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, it uses this research to develop lifestyle management tools.
In 2009, Blue Zones led a 10-month pilot project in Albert Lea, Minnesota, where residents increased their projected life expectancy by 2.9 years. In addition, employers in that city reported a decline in health care claims cost and a drop in absenteeism.
