Statewide poison center dedicated

The new statewide Poison Control Center was officially dedicated at St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center in Sioux City Wednesday. Managing Director Linda Kalin says the statewide center merges resources in Sioux City with those at the University of Iowa. Kalin says St. Lukes has had a poison control center for 20 years, so it was the logical place to locate the statewide center. She says they already have the certified staff to handle phone calls.People with questions can call a toll-free number to get help. Kalin says the 24-hour-a-day service is valuable to the state. She says every dollar spent on a poison center saves seven on health care costs.The state legislature provided 437-thousand dollars in tobacco settlement money to fund the center. The toll-free number to the poison control center is: 800-352-2222.