w/ Ric Hanson

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A report from the Iowa Healthcare Collaborative (IHC) claims hospitals across the state that participate in a program designed to reduce medical errors prevented potential harm to more than 43-hundred (4,300) patients last year. Scott McIntyre, spokesman for the Iowa Hospital Association, says the effort is part of the federal Partnership for Patients initiative, with the goals of reducing harm by 40 percent and hospital re-admissions by 20 percent.

“We just feel there’s been very positive and noteworthy progress,” McIntrye says. “In reality, we’re keeping people out of the hospital…and we’re saving lives.” The report estimates at least 32 lives were saved in Iowa in 2013 because of the Hospital Engagement Network (HEN). The Iowa-based HEN, which includes 12 hospitals in Illinois and Nebraska, also reduced health care costs, according to McIntrye.

“Our estimate is about 51-million dollars was saved because of the improvements in these quality measures,” McIntyre says. In addition to reducing costs, McIntyre says the Iowa HEN reduced the time that patients spent in the participating hospitals by 17,758 days. The report also claims participating hospitals reduced early elective baby deliveries (which can increase complications) by 90 percent; catheter associated urinary tract infections by 44 percent; adverse drug events by 28 percent; central line-associated blood stream infections in intensive care by 24 percent; surgical site infections by 24 percent; patient falls by 23 percent; and avoidable re-admissions by 11 percent.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa – With winter starting to lessen its grip on Iowa and more people venturing outside, there’s a reminder that all 99 counties are now under restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the emerald ash borer, an exotic insect which kills valuable ash trees. The quarantine was issued by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and prohibits taking wood and ash-tree products out of state, according to state entomologist Robin Pruisner.

“And what that means is that we’re looking at high-risk items like ash logs, hardwood firewood – we call those regulated articles – that those that originate in Iowa must stay within Iowa, must stay within the quarantine boundaries to reduce the risk of spreading emerald ash borer.”

The destructive emerald ash borer has been discovered in eight Iowa counties thus far, and Pruisner says it’s likely that more infestations of the bugs will be found before the trees even leaf out this spring.

While the quarantine prohibits transportation out of state, Pruisner said they’re urging Iowans to keep it even more local, especially when it comes to firewood.

“Kind of the rule of thumb is, we’d like to see it maybe stay in the county that it originates from. We know that’s not always possible, but firewood does carry other pests than emerald ash borer and we’re just trying to slow the spread.”

For landowners wondering whether their ash trees may be in danger, there are signs that may indicate an infestation. They include emergence holes shaped like the letter “D” and serpentine or “S-shaped” tunnels under the bark. Iowa State University entomologist Mark Shour said that at this time of year, woodpeckers can help point the way to the bugs.

“They will go after a borer, whether it be a native or an exotic borer, beneath the bark of trees,” he said. “And in our case they’ve been very helpful in locating emerald ash borer infestations when we weren’t aware of them.”

Shour said there are a few treatment options, but they can take years to be effective against the emerald ash borer – and just because a tree can be treated doesn’t mean it should be.

Those with questions or concerns about a possible infestation can contact the Iowa DNR or Department of Agriculture or an office of Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.

More information is at IowaAgriculture.gov and at Extension.IAState.edu.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Repairs and improvements on Council Bluffs river and creek levees could cost the city $50 million. The Daily Nonpareil says the estimate comes from a study on the work needed to repair river and creek levees to meet federal standards.

City engineer Matt Cox says the improvements are necessary to have the Federal Emergency Management Agency certify that the city’s levee systems are adequate. Without that certification, FEMA would redraw its city maps to show the entire west side of the city could be prone to flooding. And Cox says that would force property owners there to pay high flood insurance rates.

Cox intends to ask the City Council today (Monday) to approve hiring an engineering firm to oversee the work.

With KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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SALIX, Iowa (AP) – A submerged pickup has been found at Snyder Bend Park near Salix in northwest Iowa.  The Sioux City Journal says a park ranger spotted the truck around 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

Sgt. Don Armstrong of the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office says the pickup belonged to Ronald Mathison, of Sioux City. Mathison told officers that he’d been ice fishing Saturday night when the ice started to break up beneath him and the truck. He was able to get away before the truck plunged into the water.

Recovery of the truck could come as early as today (Monday).

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County report a Red Oak woman was arrested Sunday evening on a charge of Driving While Barred. 32-year old Michelle M. Storm was pulled over at around 7:30-p.m. for allegedly making an unsafe turn and Failure to use a continuous signal. A check of Storm’s driving record revealed she was barred from operating a motor vehicle for being a habitual violator.

Storm was booked into the Montgomery County Jail and released after posting a $2,000 bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Civil rights groups and some Democrats in the Legislature say Iowa has a wage theft problem and it needs to be fixed. Senator Bill Dotzler, a Waterloo Democrat says it’s an epidemic involving up to 1,000 workers a year in Iowa. He’s proposed a bill that holds employers responsible and forces them to tell workers up front in writing how much they’ll get paid and what deductions will be taken from their checks.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The chairman of Iowa’s Republican Party will step down later this month once a replacement can be chosen. The Iowa GOP said Saturday that A.J. Spiker had submitted his letter of resignation. The party will chose a new chairman on March 29th. Spiker plans to become a political adviser to U.S. Sen. Rand Paul’s political action committee after supporting Paul’s father, former Texas Congressman Ron Paul.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — The streets of Waterloo are a bit smoother now thanks to the efforts of a group of volunteers who spent part of their weekend filling potholes. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports the volunteers filled about 400 potholes Saturday.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Iowa authorities have identified the 34-year-old Waterloo man who died in the Black Hawk County Jail. The Black Hawk County Sheriff’s office says James Terrell Taylor died Friday evening after being found unresponsive in a cell. The State Medical Examiner performed an autopsy on Taylor Sunday, but toxicology reports are still pending.

One of two high speed pursuits that took place Sunday evening and night began in Cass County. The first began just after 7-p.m., when Cass County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh McLaren tried to stop a vehicle whose driver was wanted on Polk County warrant. The chase started on North Olive Street near the KJAN studios when McLaren initiated a traffic stop of a 2014 VW Passat.

Richard Randall Eatwell (Polk County Sheriff’s office photo) – 2013

The driver, 39-year old Richard Randall Eatwell, was wanted on a Polk County warrant for Parole Violation. The chase ended in a foot pursuit of the suspect, who was apprehended without further incident in the fenced-in back yard of a residence in Audubon, near the intersection of Poplar and Maple Streets, at around 7:26-p.m.

During the chase, the car traveled north on Olive Street towards Interstate 80, at speeds of up to 117-miles per hour. The VW then turned east onto Boston Road and reached speeds of 80-to 90 on the gravel, before it turned north on Highway 71.

The vehicle hit 118-miles per hour on the stretch between the Valley (Highway 71/Interstate 80), and Brayton. Along the way driver made several passes in a No Passing Zone and entered Brayton doing about 95 miles per hour.

Approaching Exira, speeds topped 120-miles per hour. The suspect’s vehicle turned east onto 250th Street near the Greenbriar Country Club in an effort to avoid stop-sticks, and then headed north on Lark Avenue until it came to the T-intersection with 220th, where it turned west while maintaining about 80-to 90 miles per hour. At 7:19-pm the car turned north onto Highway 71 heading into Audubon.

Assisting in the chase and arrest were deputies with the Audubon, Carroll and Shelby County Sheriff’s Offices, Audubon Police and the Iowa State Patrol. None of the officers or any civilians were injured during the chase and arrest.

Eatwell was previously arrested on March 27th, 2013 by Atlantic Police on a Feb. 2013 warrant out of Polk County, for a Parole Violation associated with Work Release. The second chase involved deputies with the Mills, Montgomery, Fremont, Cass, Adams and Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Departments, and Omaha Police Helicopter Able 1. Details are currently not available on that incident.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The chairman of Iowa’s Republican Party will step down later this month once a replacement can be chosen. The Iowa GOP said Saturday that A.J. Spiker had submitted his letter of resignation. The party will chose a new chairman on March 29.

Spiker plans to become a political adviser to U.S. Sen. Rand Paul’s political action committee. Rand Paul is a potential 2016 presidential candidate, and Spiker had previously backed Paul’s father, former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul. Spiker became chairman in 2012 after tea party conservatives and Paul supporters worked at the precinct level to take control of the state GOP leadership.

On Saturday most of the GOP state convention delegates chosen were moderate candidates who back Gov. Terry Branstad.