Gazette Daily News Briefing, September 10 and September 11
Welcome to the weekend!
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Saturday, September 10, and Sunday, September 11.
This is a weekend that is going to feel very much like fall has arrived with cooler temperatures and potentially some rain in store. According to the National Weather Service, on Saturday in the Cedar Rapids area it will be cloudy, with a high near 72 degrees. There will be a north wind of 5 to 15 mph with wind gusts as high as 20 mph. There will be an above 50 percent chance of rain from around 6 p.m. on Saturday until 6:00 a.m. on Sunday. On Sunday the chance of rain will linger, mostly until 1 p.m., and the high will be 67 degrees. The wind will be similar to Saturday. On Sunday night it will be mostly cloudy, with a low of around 54 degrees, and a 40 percent chance of showers.
Six years after a Davenport veteran’s suicide sparked national attention and calls from members of Congress for an investigation after having been denied inpatient psychiatric care, the Iowa City Veterans Administration Medical Center is planning for a major expansion.
“Over the past several years, mental health — both in the military and civilian sector — has been recognized as a shortcoming in our medical treatment of individuals, whether they veterans or civilians,” Heath Streck, associate director for operations, said following a 9/11 flag-raising ceremony on Friday at the Iowa City VA Health Care System.
Streck stressed, however, that several mental health initiatives and newly approved funding by Congress will help deal with these shortcomings.
President Joe Biden in June signed the Sgt. Ketchum Rural Veterans Mental Health Act into law. The legislation was named for Sgt. Brandon Ketchum.
The 33-year-old served in Iraq and Afghanistan and struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse after serving in the U.S. Marines and the Iowa Army National Guard. He died by suicide in 2016 after being denied inpatient psychiatric care at the Iowa City Veterans Administration Medical Center.
The new law, supported by Iowa’s congressional delegation, will establish teams of specialists that can be more responsive to the needs of rural VA hospitals, as well as requiring the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study and report on whether the VA has sufficient resources to serve rural veterans who need mental health care that is more intensive than traditional outpatient therapy.
Streck and Jamie Johnson, public affairs officer, said the Iowa City-based VA health system is in the process of developing a medical psych unit and plans to develop a community living center in addition to a residential rehabilitation treatment program to fill gaps and meet demand.
Over the next five budget years, the University of Iowa and its health care enterprise plan to spend more than $1.4 billion on new construction and renovations — including $620.9 million on a new inpatient hospital tower and $212 million on a new “modern health care research facility.”
Iowa’s three Regent universities this week shared more details of their projected capital spending over the next five years in a facilities plan going before Iowa’s Board of Regents next week.
For UI, the report for the first time attached numbers and general timelines to conceptual projects the campus unveiled earlier this year as part of its 10-year master plan.
“UIHC’s five-year capital plan for other funds would be for $786 million, up 51 percent from last year’s $521 million, mainly due to a new inpatient bed tower project,” according to the new report.
A spending schedule for the new UIHC inpatient tower budgets nearly $3 million toward that project in the next budget year, jumping to $148 million for fiscal 2025 — with costs escalating through fiscal 2028, reaching a total of $620.9 million. Although spending on the project could continue beyond that fifth year, the new UIHC inpatient tower at that price would become the costliest hospital project in state history. What’s in second place? UIHC’s new North Liberty hospital campus under construction on a recently boosted $525 million budget.
The new Marion Public Library’s projected opening date has been pushed back again.
This time, the goal is to open in October, two years after the facility’s groundbreaking in October 2020.
The new library was supposed to open this month after being pushed back from its prior July opening goal.
Library Director Bill Carroll said the delay this time is still due to various issues relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The new library building has experienced several delays to opening as a result of the pandemic, including supply chain issues and labor shortages for contracting partners,” Carroll said.
Have a good weekend everyone.
