Heartland Health is preparing to deal with Ebola.

“It’s a big concern because of the number of cases that continue to evolve in West Africa.  It’s also a concern because the mortality rate is so high and there’s no really well proven therapy at this point,” said Heartland Director of Infectious Diseases Dr. Scott Folk.

Officials with the University of Kansas Hospital announced Tuesday afternoon that preliminary tests on a patient who arrived Monday with Ebola-like symptoms does not have the deadly disease.  However, doctors in St. Joseph are still preparing for the disease as its spreads in West Africa.

“We are informing our caregivers on a daily basis with updates and also reaffirming to them what the process is when someone comes in with infectious disease type symptoms,” said Heartland Acting Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Davin Turner. “We’ve ramped up our precautions in making sure our caregivers are aware.  We started over a week ago.”

Dr. Folk said as the virus increases in West Africa the likelihood of it appearing in the United States and our area locally also increase.

“Over time the chances of people from Africa bringing Ebola virus in the U.S. will continue to increase and as that happens we here in the U.S. need to remain vigilant for any patients who might potentially have infection,” said Dr. Folk.

Folk said Ebola is transmitted through blood and body fluids and that Heartland has the protective gear on hand to deal with a case of Ebola if necessary.

“When you are dealing with a patient that has Ebola virus you need to pay close attention to the way you take off your  personal protective equipment so that you don’t accident contaminate or infect yourself,” said Dr. Folk.

Heartland said it also has isolation rooms ready if needed.

“We have multiple isolation rooms throughout the facility,” said Dr. Turner. “These isolation rooms are closed ventilation rooms that contain that air that’s in that room that’s self-ventilated so that any type of air or articulates cannot escape that room.”

Dr. Folk said symptoms of the Ebola virus are fever, headache, achy muscles, and a lot of intestinal issues like nausea or vomiting, and many patients bleed from their intestinal tract.

 

It was a year ago next week that the Saint Joseph School District turned its lunch and breakfast program over to a private company. Director Tonya McCrea says Opaa! Food Management is successfully implementing new federal nutrition standards, and students are adapting to the changes.

She says the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act will impose more new standards in two years, and another batch of new rules two years after that.

Superintendent Dr. Fred Czerwonka says Opaa! has also taken the program from a $600,000 deficit to a projected $400,000 surplus by the end of this year, a $1-million change for the better.

 

Amy Kotwani, director of International Student Services at Missouri Western State University, has been selected as a rising star by an organization of student affairs professionals. Kotwani will receive her Missouri New Professional Rising Star Award at the NASPA IV-West Regional Conference in Albuquerque, N.M.

“As an office of one, Amy creates and oversees a number of exciting cultural events and programs, serving students, staff and the St. Joseph community,” said Shana Meyer, vice president for student affairs, in nominating Kotwani. “Amy’s goal is to create a supportive environment to assist international students in overcoming cultural barriers and assist with any problems.”

The New Professional Rising Star Award is presented to one new professional in each of the 10 states in the NASPA IV-West region who has been in the profession for less than three years and has made a significant contribution to his or her campus.

Kotwani joined Missouri Western in 2012, when there were only 52 international students. That number has more than doubled to 129 this fall. Kotwani has overseen or participated in a number of activities for international students, including:

• Participation in Homecoming and other campus events.
• The International Fair, which featured booths set up by international students, visited by nearly 400 attendees last November.
• The One World Soccer Tournament, with 115 students participating.
• The Krikor Partamian Ping Pong Tournament in March, which raised $4,000 for International Student Services.
• The International Graduation and Awards Banquet.
• The International Lecture Series, with students talking to campus and community about their home countries.

In addition, Kotwani was part of a community committee that planned St. Joseph’s first cultural festival in May.

Kotwani earned bachelor’s degrees in journalism and political science from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a law degree and Master of Business Administration from Drake University.

Two St. Joseph agencies received recognition in making area roadways a safer place during the 2014 Blueprint for Safer Roadways Conference.

The Conference was held in St. Louis Sept. 29-Oct. 1.  Organizations from across the state of Missouri took part in the conference sponsored by the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety, whose goal is to reduce fatalities and disabling injuries on Missouri roads.

“We very much appreciate the efforts of all who are involved to encourage safe driving, and we will continue to work towards the ultimate goal of losing zero lives on Missouri roads,” said Leanna Depue, Ph.D., director of highway safety for the Missouri Department of Transportation.

 

The MO Coalition for Roadway Safety oversees seven regions that work closely with communities to identify opportunities to reduce fatalities and disabling injuries on Missouri roads. Each region selected an Arrive Alive Award recipient and a Show-Me Safety Award recipient. 

Northwest Regional Arrive Alive Award winner is the “I’m a Safe Driver” program, sponsored by the St. Joseph Police Department.

Northwest Regional Show-Me Safety Award winner is Safety Town, sponsored by the St. Joseph Safety and Health Council.

Cities and counties receiving funding under a Kansas Department of Transportation program designed to reduce the number of deficient bridges on local road system have been selected. The recipients of 77 local bridge projects were announced by KDOT Secretary Mike King today in Hays.

Seventy-five counties and two cities will receive a combined total of more than $10 million in state funding under the Kansas Local Bridge Improvement Program. Under this new program, the state contributes 90 percent of the total project cost, and the local public authority contributes 10 percent. The state funds are capped at $120,000 or $160,000 if the local jurisdiction chooses to remove a second structure.

KDOT is providing funding to improve, replace or rehabilitate locally-owned, deficient bridges in order to improve the overall transportation system in Kansas. This bridge program targets bridges with a daily vehicle count of less than 100 and a length of 20 to 50 feet.

“This program proved to be extremely popular,” Secretary King said. “Every local community that applied for funding and was qualified is receiving funding.

“These bridges might have low traffic numbers but they are important to the farmers that use them to get their equipment to fields and crops to market.”

There are approximately 20,000 bridges on Kansas’ local road systems and about 18 percent of those are structurally deficient. Of those, about 1,800 to 1,900 bridges fall within the target range for length and traffic.

Shana Meyer, vice president for student affairs at Missouri Western State University, has been named Director-Elect to the Board of Directors of NASPA, the leading organization for professionals in student affairs.

Meyer will be Director of the Professional Standards Division when she begins her two-year term on the Board of Directors next March. She currently serves as a regional representative in the division, representing the 10 states of Region IV-West.

The Professional Standards Division focuses on the promotion and advocacy of professional standards, ethics, and student affairs competencies for the Association.

Meyer joined Missouri Western in 2013. Previously, she served as a student affairs professional at Fort Hays State University, Kansas State University at Salina, and Kansas State University. She received her Bachelor of Science in English/Journalism and Master of Science in Counselor Education from Emporia State University.