29
Nov
2005
• The Quad City Health Initiative (QCHI) was recently awarded the 2005 Iowa Dietetic Association Gem Award for its work on wellness through its Wellness Warriors team. The award is given to individuals or groups in the private, public, or business community who have made significant contributions to the profession of dietetics in Iowa. Nomination categories include business and industry, media, health care, legislation/public policy, and others. The QCHI Wellness Warriors team was selected for its outstanding contribution to the nutritional well-being of the citizens of the Quad Cities and for providing a model plan of action for the state of Iowa. The state presentation of the Gem Award took place at the Iowa Dietetic Association annual meeting in early November. The Quad City Health Initiative is a community partnership in active pursuit of a healthier community. Major financial sponsors of the Initiative in 2005 are Trinity Regional Health System, Genesis Health System, and Royal Neighbors of America. For more information or to join the efforts of the Quad City Health Initiative, call (563)421-2815 or visit (http://www.qchealthinitiative.org).
• Iowa State Senator Maggie Tinsman (R-Bettendorf) has joined with other Republican senators to unveil a measure aimed at encouraging Iowans' use of E85, a fuel blend that is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. The measure would use $5 million annually from the Iowa Values Fund to provide $25,000 grants that help pay retailers' cost of installing E85 pumps and storage tanks. The grants would assist 200 Iowa retailers each year over the next nine years for a total of 1,800 new E85 pumps. Currently, there are 26 E85 pumps in Iowa. The Senate Republican measure also would provide retailers a 10-cent-per-gallon credit on each gallon of E85 sold. The Department of Natural Resources projects 650,000 gallons of E85 will be sold in Iowa this year. Republican senators are also proposing an incentive for bio-diesel sales in Iowa. Under the measure, retailers would receive a 10-cent-per-gallon credit on each gallon of bio-diesel sold. Senate Republicans will introduce their renewable fuels package when the 2006 legislative session convenes in January.
• Recently, the State of Iowa entered into a multi-state prescription-drug-purchasing pool that is projected to save the state's Medicaid program nearly $3 million over the next two years. This is an important savings for the state in light of the new Medicare prescription-drug program. This new program will reduce Iowa's purchasing power by exempting those dually eligible individuals from Iowa's Medicaid prescription-drug system. The new Sovereign States Drug Consortium also includes Vermont and Maine. In addition, at least two other states are likely to join in hopes of expanding the consortium's negotiating power with the pharmaceutical industry. Assuming five states form the pool at the outset, the first-year cost will be $127,000, with year-two and -three costs being $82,500 each. Iowa is expected to save between $1.2 million and $1.4 million in the first year (state and federal funds combined), and between $2.4 million and $2.6 million in the second.
• In the time it takes to watch a favorite sitcom, virtually anybody can now learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation using the American Heart Association's (AHA) recently released CPR Anytime for Family & Friends kit. For less than $30, anyone not needing a course-completion card can complete CPR instruction in the privacy and comfort of their own home while watching a 22-minute DVD and practicing skills on the inflatable Mini Anne mannequin developed by Laerdal Medical Corporation. The CPR kits are available through the AHA Web site at (http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3033740).
• Trinity Visiting Nurse and Homecare Association (VNHA) began accepting patients in its residential hospice unit located at Trinity at Terrace Park in Bettendorf on Monday, November 21. The 11-bed unit is the first and only dedicated facility in the Quad Cities for hospice care. It will offer families facing end-of-life care decisions a comfortable, alternative option to in-home care for hospice services. The next closest hospice facilities are in Pella and Newton, Iowa, and Joliet, Illinois. The hospice-care philosophy focuses on treating the needs of the whole family, not just the caretaking of the patient. It is this holistic approach and low staff-to-patient ratio that differentiates hospice care from other types of residential care. The Terrace Park hospice facility will have one nurse for every six patients. Other team members include a medical director; certified nursing assistants; home health aides; social workers; chaplains; nutritionists; physical, occupational, and speech therapists; and bereavement counselors who work with the family to help customize the patient's care plan under the guidance of the patient's attending physician.
• The Fejervary Zoological Society and the family of Lyle Haakenson have added several new lighting arrangements to a three-block-long holiday-light display. The organization claims that this is the largest animated light show in Davenport and maybe the Quad Cities. On Saturday, December 3, at 4:30 p.m., you can enjoy Christmas carols and cookies and hot chocolate provided by Riefe's Restaurant. At 5 p.m. Santa will pass out candy canes while the lights are being turned on. There will also be a contest open until December 19 in which participants can try to guess the number of lights in the ski-jumping snowman; this is one of many animations created by Lyle, Patty, and Michael Haakenson. The lights will be on display from 5 to 10 p.m. between December 3 and 26.
• Iowa State Senator Maggie Tinsman (R-Bettendorf) has joined with other Republican senators to unveil a measure aimed at encouraging Iowans' use of E85, a fuel blend that is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. The measure would use $5 million annually from the Iowa Values Fund to provide $25,000 grants that help pay retailers' cost of installing E85 pumps and storage tanks. The grants would assist 200 Iowa retailers each year over the next nine years for a total of 1,800 new E85 pumps. Currently, there are 26 E85 pumps in Iowa. The Senate Republican measure also would provide retailers a 10-cent-per-gallon credit on each gallon of E85 sold. The Department of Natural Resources projects 650,000 gallons of E85 will be sold in Iowa this year. Republican senators are also proposing an incentive for bio-diesel sales in Iowa. Under the measure, retailers would receive a 10-cent-per-gallon credit on each gallon of bio-diesel sold. Senate Republicans will introduce their renewable fuels package when the 2006 legislative session convenes in January.
• Recently, the State of Iowa entered into a multi-state prescription-drug-purchasing pool that is projected to save the state's Medicaid program nearly $3 million over the next two years. This is an important savings for the state in light of the new Medicare prescription-drug program. This new program will reduce Iowa's purchasing power by exempting those dually eligible individuals from Iowa's Medicaid prescription-drug system. The new Sovereign States Drug Consortium also includes Vermont and Maine. In addition, at least two other states are likely to join in hopes of expanding the consortium's negotiating power with the pharmaceutical industry. Assuming five states form the pool at the outset, the first-year cost will be $127,000, with year-two and -three costs being $82,500 each. Iowa is expected to save between $1.2 million and $1.4 million in the first year (state and federal funds combined), and between $2.4 million and $2.6 million in the second.
• In the time it takes to watch a favorite sitcom, virtually anybody can now learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation using the American Heart Association's (AHA) recently released CPR Anytime for Family & Friends kit. For less than $30, anyone not needing a course-completion card can complete CPR instruction in the privacy and comfort of their own home while watching a 22-minute DVD and practicing skills on the inflatable Mini Anne mannequin developed by Laerdal Medical Corporation. The CPR kits are available through the AHA Web site at (http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3033740).
• Trinity Visiting Nurse and Homecare Association (VNHA) began accepting patients in its residential hospice unit located at Trinity at Terrace Park in Bettendorf on Monday, November 21. The 11-bed unit is the first and only dedicated facility in the Quad Cities for hospice care. It will offer families facing end-of-life care decisions a comfortable, alternative option to in-home care for hospice services. The next closest hospice facilities are in Pella and Newton, Iowa, and Joliet, Illinois. The hospice-care philosophy focuses on treating the needs of the whole family, not just the caretaking of the patient. It is this holistic approach and low staff-to-patient ratio that differentiates hospice care from other types of residential care. The Terrace Park hospice facility will have one nurse for every six patients. Other team members include a medical director; certified nursing assistants; home health aides; social workers; chaplains; nutritionists; physical, occupational, and speech therapists; and bereavement counselors who work with the family to help customize the patient's care plan under the guidance of the patient's attending physician.
• The Fejervary Zoological Society and the family of Lyle Haakenson have added several new lighting arrangements to a three-block-long holiday-light display. The organization claims that this is the largest animated light show in Davenport and maybe the Quad Cities. On Saturday, December 3, at 4:30 p.m., you can enjoy Christmas carols and cookies and hot chocolate provided by Riefe's Restaurant. At 5 p.m. Santa will pass out candy canes while the lights are being turned on. There will also be a contest open until December 19 in which participants can try to guess the number of lights in the ski-jumping snowman; this is one of many animations created by Lyle, Patty, and Michael Haakenson. The lights will be on display from 5 to 10 p.m. between December 3 and 26.
