MONDAY, JULY 2, 2018  |  IN THIS ISSUE
Para1UI Stead Family Children's Hospital ranks in national report 
U.S. News & World Report has ranked University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital in four specialties in the new 2018-19 Best Children's Hospitals rankings published online last week.

UI Stead Family Children's Hospital ranked 36th in pediatric cancer, 49th in neonatology, 28th in pediatric nephrology and 46th in pediatric orthopedics.

The 12th  annual Best Children's Hospitals rankings recognize the top 50 pediatric facilities across the United States in 10 pediatric specialties: cancer, cardiology and heart surgery, diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology and gastrointestinal surgery, neonatology, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, pulmonology, and urology.

"We are pleased to see our tradition of providing excellent care to our patients and their families continue to be recognized. These rankings symbolize our expertise in pediatric care and our commitment to those we serve," Dr. Raphael Hirsch, physician-in-chief of UI Stead Family Children's Hospital and chair of UI Stead Family Department of Pediatrics, stated in a press release.

"We are proud of the specialized expertise of our pediatric care teams and their dedication to the children of Iowa and beyond," stated Amy O'Deen, interim executive director, UI Stead Family Children's Hospital. "Being recognized, once again, as one of our nation's best children's hospitals highlights the quality of our services across a comprehensive array of specialties and commitment to the well-being of children and their families."

This year's rankings will be published in the U.S. News & World Report's "Best Hospitals 2019" guidebook, available in stores in September.

For the full rankings , visit   Best Children's Hospitals .
Iowa City, Clear Creek Amana, Solon, and Cedar Rapids districts have all worked in the past to source local produce and dairy for their students, but starting this month, they will be taking it to the next level with a two-year challenge to increase local food procurement by 10 percent.
 
The districts will host farmer fairs for their students, conduct recipe research with a variety of local ingredients, participate in menu planning and procurement workshops and set up production agreements with Iowa food hubs and area farms. School food directors and their nutrition services teams will expand their knowledge on farm-to-school efforts and receive in-depth training on how local food procurement can be done while following the National School Lunch Program regulations. They will build relationships with area farmers and distribution agents. At least five local products will be identified and sourced by each district, each year.
 
This effort is supported by a recently funded U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm to School Program Grant awarded to Iowa Valley RC&D. Jason Grimm, food systems director for Iowa Valley RC&D, is lead for the project.
 
"Our organization is committed to doing systems-level work and this project is a great example. It funds meaningful training and education for multiple school food directors over a long period of time, introduces students to real farmers and creates sustainable structures for success," Mr. Grimm stated in a press release. "This project provides templates and tools, as well as the hands-on support to use them. It empowers the food service teams to improve the diversity of foods offered and gives them platforms to connect with students and growers."  
 
Iowa Valley RC&D will facilitate communication between the school districts, regional food hubs and farms and guide development of production agreements. They will lead menu planning and crop planning trainings, work with the districts to identify the menu items that can be purchased locally, use crop production modules to ensure supply meets school demand and facilitate logistics. Iowa Valley RC&D will provide everything from sample bid request forms to promotional material for the cafeterias.
 
For farmer fairs and garden workshops, Iowa Valley RC&D will be partnering with Field to Family , an Iowa City-based nonprofit that has been providing educational experiences for students for more than eight years, as well as Linn County Extension & Outreach and FoodCorps and Backyard Abundance .
UnityPoint Health - St. Luke's Hospital has received two awards from the American Heart Association for the treatment of heart attack patients.

St. Luke's received the American Heart Association 2018 Mission Lifeline Gold Plus STEMI Receiving Award. This award signifies a commitment to guideline adherence and quality improvement for the STEMI patient population. The 2018 Mission: Lifeline STEMI award is based on achieving performance standards in each of the Mission: Lifeline quality achievement measures from the analysis of 2017 data entered into the recently re-launched Get With The Guidelines-Coronary Artery Disease AMI registry.

St. Luke's also received the 2018 Mission: Lifeline NSTEMI Silver Recognition Award. This honor signifies a commitment to guideline adherence and quality improvement for the NSTEMI patient population. 

Every year, more than 250,000 people experience an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), which is the deadliest type of heart attack, caused by a blockage of blood flow to the heart that requires timely treatment. To prevent death, it's critical to restore blood flow as quickly as possible, either by mechanically opening the blocked vessel or by providing clot-busting medication. Non-ST elevation myocardial infarctions occur more frequently than STEMI and carry a significant risk of death.

St. Luke's earned these awards by meeting specific criteria and standards of performance for quick and appropriate treatment through emergency procedures to re-establish blood flow to blocked arteries in heart attack patients coming into the hospital directly or by transfer from another facility.

"St. Luke's is dedicated to providing optimal care for heart attack patients," Ted Townsend, CEO of UnityPoint Health - St. Luke's Hospital, stated in a press release. "We are pleased to be recognized for our dedication and achievements in cardiac care through Mission: Lifeline."
Iowa has been selected as one of eight states to participate in a National Governors Association initiative highlighting best data practices in health policymaking, the organization recently announced.

The 16-month project will address governance, cross-sector data sharing and systems capabilities to enhance data-informed policy and capacity building across state agencies, according to the NGA. Other states participating include Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Indiana, Minnesota, Vermont and Washington.

Over the course of the project, Iowa's team will receive technical assistance and engage in cross-state learning to help advance its use and analysis of data generated through the state's Medicaid program.

"Data can serve as an extremely powerful tool to set governors' priorities and inform their decision-making," the organization says on its website. "State leaders are in a unique position to use data to create policies that improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the health care system to drive broad-reaching transformation."

Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provide health and long-term care coverage to more than 632,000 low-income children, pregnant women, adults, seniors and people with disabilities in Iowa. Medicaid is a major source of funding for safety-net hospitals and nursing homes.
Brooks Jackson
In this month's health care column, Brooks Jackson, University of Iowa vice president for medical affairs and dean of the UI Carver College of Medicine, explains how a UI spinout company is advancing diabetic retinopathy research. 

Innovation is a value most companies and organizations embrace. But what does innovation truly represent?

For some people, innovation is synonymous with invention, and they see it as any idea that feels new, different or exciting. That's not a bad thing, and indeed, new ideas certainly have the potential for innovation.

Real innovation, however, means taking an idea and maximizing its potential. It happens when you develop and execute an idea in a way that changes how we think about an existing problem, process or application. Ultimately, innovation creates real change that benefits people, industry and society.

The power of innovation is clearly evident in the work being done at IDx, a University of Iowa spinout company based at the UI Research Park in Coralville.

As part of a UI Health Care presentation to the state Board of Regents during its June 6 meeting in Cedar Falls, one of our faculty members - Dr. Michael Abramoff, a professor in the UI Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and founder and president of IDx - gave an overview of the company's breakthrough product.

That product, called IDx-DR, epitomizes innovation at work. In April, Dr. Abramoff and his IDx colleagues received U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorization to market IDx-DR, a medical device that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to detect diabetic retinopathy in adults who have diabetes.

IDx-DR is the first AI device authorized by the FDA that provides a screening decision without the need for a clinician to interpret the results. This makes it usable by health care providers who may not normally be involved in eye care.

Much of the research used to develop the IDx technology was conducted by Dr. Abramoff, a retinal specialist at the UI, and his colleagues, and licensed through the UI Research Foundation.

Providers at the diabetes clinic at the UI Health Care location at Iowa River Landing began using IDx-DR - which uses AI, software and a retinal camera - to screen patients for diabetic retinopathy on June 12. Plans are underway to expand the use of the system across our health care enterprise and, in collaboration with outside investors and other business partners, to health care systems across the country and world.

For more, visit corridorbusiness.com. 
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StocksCorridor Stocks
NAME SYM PRICE CHG %CHG
AEGON AEG 5.88 -0.04 -0.68%
Alliant Energy  LNT 42.71 0.38 0.90%
Deere & Company DE 141.16 1.36 0.97%
Dow Jones ^DJI 24,307.18 35.77 0.15%
General Mills GIS 43.44 -0.82 -1.85%
GoDaddy Inc. GDDY 72.46 1.82 2.58%
Great Western Bank GWB 42.19 0.15 0.36%
Heartland Express HTLD 18.79 0.24 1.29%
KemPharm KMPH 6.50 0.00 0.00%
Marsh & McLennan MMC 82.24 0.25 0.30%
MidWestOne  MOFG 34.36 0.58 1.72%
Pearson PSO 11.58 -0.02 -0.17%
Pepsico PEP 109.53 0.66 0.61%
Principal Financial  PFG 52.86 -0.09 -0.17%
QCR Holdings QCRH 48.45 1.00 2.11%
Rockwell Collins  COL 135.18 0.50 0.37%
S&P 500 ^GSPC 2,726.71 8.34 0.31%
Tanger Factory  SKT 23.43 -0.06 -0.26%
Procter & Gamble  PG 78.13 0.07 0.09%
United Fire Group UFCS 55.28 0.77 1.41%
U.S. Bank USB 50.41 0.39 0.78%
Wells Fargo  WFC 56.32 0.88 1.59%
West Bank WTBA 25.60 0.45 1.79%
Whirlpool  WHR 146.94 0.71 0.49%
Short-Term Event Planner
     
July 5
Open Coffee, by Washington Chamber of Commerce,  8-9 a.m., Dodici's Shop,  120 S. Iowa  Ave., Washington. Join an open discussion about fostering creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship in Washington. Free. For more information, visit  chamber.washingtoniowa.org or call (319) 653-4712. 

July 6
First Friday Coffee Connections, by Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce,  7:30-8:30 a.m., Corridor Dental,  2345 Landon Road, Ste. 300, North Liberty. Network with business professionals on the first  Friday of every month. Free. For more information, visit  bit.ly/2tiI1u9.

July 10
Facing Retirements? Strategies for Knowledge Transfer, by Eastern Iowa Human Resource Association,  7:30-9 a.m., The Hotel at Kirkwood Center,  7725 Kirkwood Blvd. SW, Cedar Rapids. This membership meeting will feature Lynda Braksiek of Rockwell Collins. Free for members, $15 for non-members. For more information, visit  bit.ly/2HvoA5N .

How New Technologies Will Impact Marketing's Future, by Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance,  8-9:15 a.m., Economic Alliance,  501 First St. SE, Cedar Rapids. Joshua McNary, founder and CEO of McNary Marketing & Design, will introduce new technologies for marketing and sales and explore how your business can make the most of them. Free. To register, visit  bit.ly/2M2LJPm.

TechBrew AM, by Technology Association of Iowa and ICAD Group,  8-9 a.m., MERGE, 136 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City. TAI President Brian Waller will conduct a casual interview with a local executive as part of this informal networking event. Free. Register at  technologyiowa.org/events.
Headlines from CBS2/FOX 28
T hese news items are provided by CBS2/FOX 28  

A woman who was the victim of a domestic assault in Marion has died. Marion Police say Stephanie Bowling died Saturday as a result of her injuries. The Marion Police Department says they responded to a domestic disturbance at a residence on Bentley Drive at around 2:53 a.m. June 29. Bowling was found unresponsive inside. Police arrested 27-year-old Cody Brown and charged him with domestic assault with serious injury. Online court records indicate Brown bonded out of the Linn County Jail on the assault charge. There has been no word of any charges being upgraded yet. Brown and Bowling lived in the same residence. A GoFundMe page has been established to help raise money for Bowling's two children.
 
T hese news items are provided by CBS2/FOX 28 
 
CBS2 Chief Meteorologist Terry Swails'  Weather First Forecast
 
It will get a little humid in the afternoon, but the humidity will be much higher Tuesday through Thursday. Temperatures will be near and above 90 Tuesday through Thursday. Humidity will be high and heat index values will be between 95 to 105 each day. The 4th is going to be sunny, hot, and humid - make sure you're staying cool and hydrated during outdoor activities. Another cold front will sweep through on Thursday and produce showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. That will break the heat during the end of the week with temperatures knocked back into the mid-80s.