Kingsley Cleaning Up Debris Following Wednesday’s Storm
(Kingsley) — The chore of picking up debris, and making repairs to buildings was the Thursday morning activity at Kingsley following a strong wind storm that damaged buildings and trees in the Plymouth County community. Kingsley saw damage mostly confined to the southern and southeastern portions of the community. Titan Machinery Company, a farm equipment dealer, suffered roof damage to a recently constructed metal building, and several homes within a new development addition on the southern edge of town also had sustained roof damage. Gary Mohr is the general manager of the Titan Machinery Company at Kingsley and describes the damage that occurred.
Mohr says the storm hit at about 5:30 p.m. Insulation from the damaged structure could be seen scattered throughout the area, as well as tin from the building was wrapped around trees located across the street to the north. In addition to the roof damage, Mohr says a large overhead door to the shop was damaged.
MidAmerican Energy was able to restore power to the town of Kingsley at around 11:00 p.m. Wednesday evening. Mohr says Titan Machinery Company was back conducting business early this morning.
Kingsley mayor, Rick Bohle says he is grateful the damage to his town was confined to a small area. Bohle says several other towns’ including Remsen, Pierson and Moville were quick to extend a helping hand if needed.
Bohle says the warning sirens had sounded giving the Kingsley residents time to seek shelter.
Governor Kim Reynolds issued a proclamation of disaster to 49 counties impacted by Wednesday evening storm. However, Plymouth is not a part of the 49 counties. Grants of up to $5,000 can be distributed to those families adversely affected by the storm. The funds can be used for home or car repairs, replacement of clothing or food, and temporary housing expenses.
Floyd Valley Healthcare Selected As “Best 100 Hospitals” By Women’s Choice Award
(Le Mars) –– Floyd Valley Healthcare has been named one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Patient Experience by the Women’s Choice Award®, America’s trusted referral source for the best in healthcare. The award signifies that Floyd Valley Healthcare has been ranked within the top 100 hospitals of similar size based on number of beds, of which there were four categories.
Patients today are more involved in their care and demand a greater experience throughout their entire journey of care putting more pressure on healthcare providers to find ways to become more patient centered to meet these demands.
According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, good patient experience positively correlates to disease management, adherence to treatment plans and health outcomes. Providing good patient experience is also good for business as it results in greater employee morale and satisfaction thereby reducing turnover and helping recruit top talent. It also keeps patients loyal and happy and less likely to change providers or systems again helping the bottom line.
There is also strong correlation between providing good patient experience throughout her journey and improved clinical quality measures including increased HCAHPS scores making the investment a win-win for all. According to a survey of healthcare consumers, 82% of consumers would switch a healthcare provider as the result of a bad experience. And 86% of women would travel up to 50 miles for a hospital that was rated best inpatient experience.
“Over ninety percent of the time, women make the healthcare decisions for their families –whether it’s finding the right pediatrician for her child, navigating a tough diagnosis for her spouse, advocating for her aging parents or, of course, getting care for herself. By raising your standards to meet the highest expectations – which studies show tend to be held by women – you’re giving everyone the best you have to offer. The Women’s Choice Award is so much more than an award. As one of America’s Best Hospitals for Patient Experience, your entire hospital and all of your service lines are lifted up for the exceptional experience you provide – not only for women but for all patients. What a great achievement!” said Delia Passi, founder and CEO of the Women’s Choice Award. “To help women simplify their choices, the 100 Best Hospitals for Patient Experience are awarded because they excel in the patient’s willingness to recommend, as well as doctor communications, staff help, cleanliness, providing recovery information, explanation of medications, communication by nurses and peacefulness of the room at night.”
Floyd Valley Healthcare is one of a total of 400 award recipients representing the hospitals that have met the highest standards for patient experience in the U.S. by the Women’s Choice Award.
“We are honored to be recognized for patient experience as caring and service excellence are important pieces of our mission statement,” states Dustin Wright, Floyd Valley Healthcare CEO. “To learn that we were ranked 23rd among the 1,043 small hospitals is a testament to the phenomenal service our team provides every day.”
The methodology used to select Floyd Valley Healthcare as one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Patient Experience is unique in that it evaluates specific Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey results along with primary research about women’s healthcare preferences.
The Women’s Choice Award collects the data for the following HCAHPS survey measures and uses a weighted average to award the best hospitals for patient experience:
- Effective communication with nurses and doctors
- Responsiveness to requests for help
- Providing patient recovery information
- Explanation about medications before being administered
- Bathroom and room cleanliness
- Peacefulness of room at night
- Patient recommendation rating
For more information on America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Patient Experience, please visit
https://womenschoiceaward.com/best-patient-experience
Dordt University To Offer Beekeeping Courses
(Sioux Center) — A set of four beginning beekeeper classes will be offered at the Dordt University Agriculture Stewardship Center on Tuesday evenings starting on January 4, 2022 at 6:30 p.m.
The first class is informational and is free of charge. It is titled, “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Beekeeping,” and will provide an overview of what needs to be considered if one wants to begin beekeeping. Costs of beekeeping, hive locations, bee acquisition, and much more will be presented during the first class, with sufficient time allocated for answering participant questions.
There will be a fee for the additional classes on January 11, 18, and either February 8 or 15 for the participants who, after learning about what beekeeping entails, want to continue the course.
Those interested in coming to the first informational class can pre-register by emailing Dr. Duane Bajema at duane.bajema@dordt.edu or helen.zeutenhorst@dordt.edu.
National Weather Service: Wednesday Storm Categorized As “Serial Derecho”
(Des Moines, IA) — The storm that roared across Iowa Wednesday has been categorized as a derecho. National Weather Service Meteorologist, Brook Hagenhoff, says it’s not exactly the same as the 2020 version. This one was a “serial derecho.” The difference is how it was formed. She says the derecho this week had winds in the upper 80s — but was more spread out across the state. “The derecho that we had last summer in August really had kind of that narrow area that had that very strong 100, 100 plus, 120s even as you got out toward Cedar Rapids.” Last year’s storm had a really narrow and intense band. The governor had issued disaster declarations for 49 of Iowa’s 99 counties by Thursday evening for damage done by the Wednesday storm.
Governor Issues Disaster Proclamations
(Des Moines, IA) — Governor Kim Reynolds has declared 49 of Iowa 99 counties state disaster areas as a result of Wednesday’s storm and says she wouldn’t be surprised if more counties are added. The governor’s disaster declaration releases state resources, like D-O-T dump trucks, to assist with clean-up and low-income Iowans may apply for disaster aid to cover expenses like ruined food and damaged appliances. Reynolds says while damage assessments are still underway, she would be surprised if Iowa would qualify for a presidential disaster declaration. That’s because storm damage must be significant and widespread to qualify for that federal assistance. As of right now, Plymouth County has not been included as one of the counties declared as a disaster area. Reynolds included Woodbury County and five other counties in that designation late in the afternoon.
ACLU Files Lawsuit Against State Over COVID Information
(Des Moines,IA) — The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Iowa filed a lawsuit against the Governor’s office seeking the release of public records regarding COVID-19. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of several media and open government organizations who have been unsuccessfully attempting to obtain the records for the last year and a half. The A-C-L-U says that the organizations have filed repeated requests for information, but received either no response from the office or an acknowledgment of the request.
185 Members Make Care Packages
(Sioux City, IA) — Members of Sioux City’s 185th Iowa Air Guard refueling wing put together holiday care packages to send to the family members who have a member of the unit on deployment. Master Sergeant Stephanie Bowen says the 185th’s Family Readiness Office led the effort as a way to recognize the contributions made by family members during the holiday season. Bowen says every deployed member has already received care packages from other organizations and 185th wanted to use some of the many donated items to do something for the unit family members.
Iowa Department Of Public Safety Works With Partners On Nationwide School Threat
(Des Moines, IA) — The Iowa Department of Safety says it is working with law enforcement partners on a nationwide school threat. An anonymous message on social media platforms declared today (Friday) as “American School Shooting Day.” The message warns about the possibilities of shootings or bomb threats. The assistant director of the Division of Intelligence and Fusion Center for the D-P-S says there are no current specific or credible threats aimed at any schools in Iowa, but the monitoring is continuing.
