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City intervention unsuccessful at preserving church

May 15, 2012, 6:14 pm
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Crews demolish the 1928 former Swab Motor dealership and most recently, Teena's Classic Furniture, 829 Second Ave. SE, on Tuesday, May 15, 2012. First Christian Church,  840 Third Ave. SE is seen behind the debris. (photo/Cindy Hadish)

CEDAR RAPIDS – An 11th hour intervention by Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett and promise of $300,000 in funding won’t be enough to save a former historic church from demolition. Demolition of the former First Christian Church, 840 Third Ave. SE, is expected to begin next week. Laura Rainey, spokeswoman for St. Luke’s Hospital,...
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New clinics example of new wave of health care

May 15, 2012, 7:45 am
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Push Pedal Pull's Sean Pospisil (left) and John St. John both of Marion, Iowa, arrange parts to an exercise apparatus in Therapy Plus at St. Luke's Hospital's newest clinic, 1001 N. Center Point Rd., on Friday, May 10, 2012, in Hiawatha. The clinic, which will provide urgent care services as well as internal medicine care and physical therapy services, will open May 21. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette-KCRG)

Experts say a proliferation of hospital-affiliated primary care and urgent care clinics is part of the future wave of health care. The clinics help provide the access, continuity and integration of care that are hallmarks of health care reform, while at the same time promoting “brand” loyalty to the hospitals, said Scott McIntyre, communications...
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Haitian baby returning home after recovering from surgery in Iowa City

May 11, 2012, 3:22 pm
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Dr. Ginny Ryan holds four-month old Bedica Ermilus from St. Medard, Haiti during a followup appointment Tuesday, April 3, 2012 at University Hospitals in Iowa City.  (Brian Ray/The Gazette-KCRG)

IOWA CITY – A Haitian baby who received surgery at University of Iowa Children’s Hospital for a birth defect is going home Saturday, May 12. Bedica Ermilus was about 14 weeks old when surgeons performed the operation in March for anorectal malformation, a lower digestive tract abnormality. Dr. Christopher Buresh, an emergency physician at...
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“People’s Garden” connects students to learning; healthy eating

May 9, 2012, 3:40 pm
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Second graders Isaac Hofferber, (left), and Audrey Leno, speak with Martha Aitken, of Washington State University the best gardening secrets, on Wednesday, May, 9, 2012, in Hiawatha, Iowa.  (Nikole Hanna/The Gazette-KCRG)

HIAWATHA – Second-grader Isaac Hofferber plucked a tiny green sprout from a garden growing outside Hiawatha Elementary School. “Here’s a weed,” the 7-year-old said Wednesday, before pointing to a cucumber seedling “and that’s a plant.” Isaac and other Hiawatha students are learning more than plant differentiation with a new Healthy Gardens, Healthy Youth program....
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Whooping cough cases centered in Eastern Iowa

May 7, 2012, 9:43 am
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Most of the state’s whooping cough cases this year have been reported in Eastern Iowa. More than 150 cases have been confirmed in Iowa so far in 2012, an increase of 121 percent over this time last year, but not a record number, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. Scott County has...
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CPR credited with saving Cedar Rapids man’s life

May 7, 2012, 7:05 am
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Joe Gantner, back on his bike four weeks after being hospitalized. (photo courtesy of Joe Gantner)

Joe Gantner, an independent financial advisor in Cedar Rapids, tells how two people, Steve Etten and Emily Robins, saved his life last summer. Gantner will be awarding the two the American Heart Association’s Heart Saver Hero Awards at the team captain kick-off Tuesday, May 8, for the Cedar Rapids Heart Walk.   The day...
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Environmentalists “connect the dots” on climate change

May 5, 2012, 1:56 pm
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Members of the Cornell College Environmental Club and other supporters gather Saturday outside the Indian Creek Nature Center, 6665 Otis Rd. SE, during a Connect the Dots event to draw awareness to climate change. (photo/Cindy Hadish)

CEDAR RAPIDS – Indian Creek Nature Center Director Rich Patterson pointed to the bridge outside the center in southeast Cedar Rapids. “If you would’ve been there on June 13, 2008, you would’ve been under water,” Patterson told a group of Cornell College students participating Saturday, May 5, 2012, in a climate change awareness event....
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Cedar Rapids falls short in Blue Zones goal

May 4, 2012, 9:27 am
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Updated: 12:45 p.m. May 4, 2012 Cedar Rapids will continue to pursue becoming a Blue Zones Community, even after the city fell short in its initial attempt. Cedar Falls, Waterloo, Mason City and Spencer were announced Friday, May 4, 2012, as Iowa’s first Blue Zones demonstration sites. “We do plan to continue our effort,”...
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Wellmark and Iowa Health System prepare rollout of Accountable Care Organization

May 3, 2012, 10:38 am
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Wellmark and Iowa Health System prepare rollout of Accountable Care Organization

CEDAR RAPIDS – Patients should benefit as a new partnership, called an Accountable Care Organization, begins in Iowa with Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield and the Iowa Health System. Commonly called an ACO, the collaboration is designed to improve quality and lower health care costs between Iowa’s largest insurance provider and the health...
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New dental services offered at His Hands Free Medical Clinic; grand opening set for Thursday

May 2, 2012, 5:37 pm
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Dentist Jeffrey Akey works on patient Brenda Rawson at His Hands Free Medical Clinic in Cedar Rapids. The clinic began offering free dental services in February and has a grand opening set for Thursday, May 3. (photo/Michelle Retter)

CEDAR RAPIDS – Even before Thursday’s grand opening, the new dental service at His Hands Free Medical Clinic has a waiting list. “There’s so much need in our community,” said Sharon Patten, Executive Director of the clinic at 400 12th St. SE. “It feels like a bottomless bucket.” More than 60 patients who are...
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