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Iowa VA hospitals to be monitored by docs in Twin Cities

November 24, 2011 By

Veterans in intensive care units at Iowa’s two VA hospitals will soon be under the care of doctors in Minneapolis via the Internet.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is going to the “hub and spoke” concept for providing health care in ICUs.

Dr. Craig Piquette, at the Omaha VA Medical Center, says advanced technology will make the Minneapolis VA the hub for several other hospitals in the Midwest.

“Due to the availability of intensive care-trained physicians in Minneapolis, they just have more of them than what we do here,” Dr. Piquette says. “Then the spokes are the seven ICUs across the region which includes facilities in Minnesota, Iowa, North and South Dakota and Nebraska.”

The technology involved in creating an electronic or “tele-ICU” is already in place in Omaha and Fargo and will be coming soon to Iowa and elsewhere.

He says “That hub in Minneapolis will eventually monitor intensive care units in Iowa City, Des Moines, Omaha, Fargo, Sioux Falls and the Black Hills facilities in western South Dakota.”

Equipment can be placed in a patient’s room at any of the spokes and medical experts at the hub in Minneapolis will monitor that patient’s conditions, in addition to the local staff.

Piquette says, “Our nurse-to-patient ratio is one nurse to every two patients in the ICU but the electronic ICU provides a safety net, another set of eyes that is constantly watching the patient.”

There is a restricted area at the Minneapolis VA equipped with a bank of monitoring screens showing vital signs.

There is also a live two-way audio-video feed that instantly connects the patient, bedside provider and the team of critical care nurses and specialists in Minneapolis.

Piquette says the cameras and monitors show real-time events and the video resolution is remarkable.

He says, “The cameras can focus in on the patient and are able to allow the physician to assess things such as the size of their pupils and a rash on their skin.”

When installation of the tele-ICU service is complete, 75 ICU beds at seven hospitals in five states will be monitored by critical care specialists in the Twin Cities.

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, Military, News

$40,000 fine for eight northern Iowa hog confinements

November 24, 2011 By

The owners of two northern Iowa livestock operations have been fined thousands of dollars for failing to file “manure management plans” with the state. 

Luke and Charles Kollasch of Algona, who are brothers, own two companies that operate eight large hog confinements. Two of the confinements are in Kossuth County; the other six are in Palo Alto County.

According to information from the Iowa attorney general’s office, those eight confinements have the capacity to raise 23,000 head of hogs. The attorney general filed a lawsuit against the companies for failing to file manure management plans for five of the confinements in 2009. The manure management plans for the other three confinements were late, in one case eight months late. 

A judge on Wednesday resolved the lawsuit by fining the companies $40,000 for the failure to meet the filing deadlines.

Filed Under: Agriculture, Crime & Courts, News

Blanket-making party to benefit patients at U-of-I Chidren’s Hospital

November 24, 2011 By

A warm and fuzzy effort to make fleece blankets for kids who’re battling cancer and other life-threatening diseases will be held next weekend in Iowa City.

Project Linus is named for the Peanuts cartoon character who constantly carries a blue security blanket.

University of Iowa student Kizzy Marco says making the blankets is easy as there’s no sewing involved.

“It’s not difficult at all,” Marco says. “Literally, you just have two pieces of fleece, you match them up and you tie. We had children as young as four last year and they did great.”

It’s Marco’s third year of organizing a Project Linus event to benefit the U-of-I Children’s Hospital.

“Oftentimes they’re given upon admission,” Marco says. “They find out they’re going to be staying at the hospital, they come in, they receive the blanket, they get to snuggle with it while they’re there and they get to take it home. Otherwise, they function as gifts. Maybe it’s a patient’s birthday or with Christmas and Hanukkah and all those holidays coming up, so they’ll be used in that way as well.”

Last year, about 80 people helped to make 200 blankets and she hopes to beat that this time. She already has 50 blankets made as a head-start.

“I’m fortunate enough to have already taken in lots of donations,” Marco says. “I do have lots of fleece but we do ask people if they are able to, provide their own fleece and then we provide music and food and it’s a very fun atmosphere.”

After earning her first degree from the U-of-I in the theatre department last year, Marco is working toward her second degree in child life, the psycho-social care of pediatric patients.

“I grew up in a home that was focused on helping other people,” Marcus says. “My mom was always very involved and she started volunteering with Project Linus in our community in Chicago when I was in junior high.”

Marco says it was a natural for her to bring the tradition to Iowa City.

The event is next Friday, December 2nd, from noon to 6 PM at the U-of-I Theatre Building. Learn more at www.projectlinus.org

Filed Under: Education, Health & Medicine, Human Interest, News

Governor attends “Pilgrim” service for Thanksgiving

November 24, 2011 By

Governor Branstad and granddaughter Bridget inspect turkeys pardoned for Thanksgiving.

Governor Terry Branstad will deliver his Thanksgiving message today during a service that features period style costumes and customs from the holiday. Branstad and his family will attend the annual “Pilgrim” service at the Plymouth United Church of Christ in Des Moines.

The ministers, deacons, choir and many of the parishioners dress up in 18th century New England costumes to mark the holiday. Branstad says this has been one of his favorite events as governor, as this is an American holiday celebrating our heritage.

Branstad says his kids have enjoyed the service in the past and this year they are all coming along with his grandkids and his uncle Ron from California. The governor says it’s a time to think of those who need a hand.

Branstad says there are still a lot of people in the state struggling because of the economy, and he says they are working to bring more jobs to the state. He says Iowans are a very caring people who reach out to others in their time of need — especially during this holiday season.

Filed Under: News, Politics & Government, Religion Tagged With: ,

Romney touts “straight forward” approach to immigration reform

November 23, 2011 By

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney held a telephone town hall meeting this afternoon with what his campaign characterized as “thousands” of Iowans, and two of the participants pressed Romney about immigration policy. 

A man named Richard from North Liberty said he had watched Tuesday night’s televised debate and the give-and-take between Romney and Newt Gingrich over illegal immigration.

“And then…on one of the national radio programs I heard a tape of you from four years ago saying you supported a path to citizenship. You know, as a rock-solid conservative what concerns me about you is you seem to change your position a lot,” the caller said.

Romney replied: “I wish you could hear the whole tape. What I said is that everybody who’s here illegally should have a path to citizenship which consists of going to their home country, applying for citizenship or permanent residency just like everybody else and getting at the back of the line, so sometimes when you hear only the first part of an answer you don’t get the full picture.”

Another woman, identified as Becky from Webster City, asked Romney for more details.

“I heard your views on immigration,” she said. “What I didn’t hear was: What are your plans to secure our borders and how do you plan on gathering the millions up to send them back to stand in line to become legal citizens?”

Romney called his approach “pretty straight forward.”

“How to secure the border is not rocket science…One, you make sure that you have a fence. Two, you have enough border patrol agents to secure the fence and the border. And, three, you make sure you that it’s easy for an employer to determine if someone is here legally or not.”

Romney supports creation of a type of e-verify system with an identification card, as well as “tough, significant sanctions” for businesses that hire illegal immigrants. Romney would support increasing the number of legal immigrants who are allowed into the country each year, as he says immigrants with advanced degrees and special skills are in high demand.

Filed Under: News, Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Nebraska coach expects a hard fought game with Iowa

November 23, 2011 By

Iowa and Nebraska meet on Friday in Lincoln for the first time as Big Ten foes. The Hawks are 7-4 after posting their first road win of the season at Purdue while the 8-3 Huskers will be looking to shake off the effects of last weeks 45-17 loss at Michigan.

Nebraska coach Bo Pelini says the preparation goes a long way and having the right attitude on the field is important as no one plays a perfect game. There won’t be nearly as much on the line in this game as both teams hoped for heading into the season but Pelini expects this to develop into a rivalry.

Pelini says Iowa is close and there are a lot of people from the state of Iowa that live in Nebraska and vice-versa, so he says it is a natural rivalry. Nebraska’s big advantage is a run game that averages 224 yards per game against an Iowa defense that is yielding 154 yards on the ground per contest.

That’s the most an Iowa defense has given up against the run since the 2000 team that finished 3-9. They will need to kind of effort from the defensive line they got in last week’s win at Purdue. Polini says they play good defense and are sound in what they do.

Pelini expects a hard fought game as he says Iowa is a physical football team that plays the game the right way.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

UNI has some time off before the playoffs

November 23, 2011 By

The week off that the U.N.I. football team has before they open the playoffs is a much-needed break, according to Panther head coach Mark Farley. The Panthers are the 5th seed in the FCS playoffs, and will have this Saturday off before they host Wofford in a second round game.

Farley says that earning a bye was a very big deal, considering how many of his players have had to battle through injuries late in the season. He says it was critical for the football team to recover from injuries and emotionally.

While their seeding surprised some Panther fans, Farley says that the team is going to rely on some lessons from past years to avoid getting caught up in when or who they play. He says last year they were asking why they had to play on the first weekend and now they are just excited to be in the playoffs.

Farley says it does not matter if they have to go on the road in the next round if they win, as he says they have enough talent to win anywhere. One thing Farley and the other coaches will do this week is try to put together a scouting report on themselves so they have an idea of what Wofford might do to try to stop their team.

He says the players will be cut loose for a while and they will try to find the things that other teams see and be critical of themselves and cleaning things up. Today will be the last day that U.N.I. practices this week. Farley says that giving the players some time off for Thanksgiving will help them out from both a physical and a mental standpoint.

Farley says you sometimes need to get mentally fresh, especially after being in the same routine since August. The Panthers opened their preseason camp on August 3rd, which means that the Wofford game will complete the fourth full month of their season.

By Jesse Gavin, KCNZ, Cedar Falls

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,
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