Anne Polta
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Anne Polta covers health care, business/economic development and general assignment. Her HealthBeat blog can be found at http://healthbeat.areavoices.com. Follow her on Twitter at @AnnePolta.
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WILLMAR -- Job seekers in west-central Minnesota outnumber job openings 8-to-1, a new analysis has found. The statistics were released Tuesday by the Jobs Now Coalition on the heels of the state's latest job vacancy survey. Kevin Ristau of the Jobs Now Coalition doesn't see these numbers improving any time soon. "For serious recovery here, we're not talking months, we're talking years," he said. The coalition developed its analysis using the most recent employment data from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.
WILLMAR -- The Kandiyohi County Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Coalition has received a major boost in the form of a five-year federal grant. Over the next five years, the organization will receive $125,000 a year -- a total of $625,000 -- to carry out prevention activities and initiatives that target youths. "It's great.
WILLMAR -- One of Rice Memorial Hospital's key executive positions, that of the chief medical officer, has been filled with the selection this month of Dr. Mark Matthias. The announcement was made Wednesday to the board of directors of the city-owned hospital. Matthias, who's currently the chief medical officer at the Mankato Clinic, has accepted a contract and will arrive at Rice around Jan. 1, said Mike Schramm, Rice Hospital's chief executive. "We're very pleased to have that happen," he said.
WILLMAR -- The timing isn't the best. Three members of Rice Memorial Hospital's seven-member board of directors are facing term limits and will be off the board on Dec. 31 -- unless the Willmar city charter can be changed to allow hospital board appointees to serve longer. The hospital board is asking the Charter Commission to speed up its decision.
WILLMAR -- Bethesda Health and Housing officially broke ground Friday for an innovative new senior wellness center at its Pleasant View home. The $6 million project, the first of its kind in the region, includes a warm-water indoor swimming pool and new space for physical, cardiac and occupational therapy programs.
WILLMAR -- Rice Memorial Hospital is launching a new strategic planning process that will start Sept.
WILLMAR -- The tires are wearing out. There's a dent in one of the passenger doors from a mishap on icy roads this past winter. The latest woe to befall the Humane Society of Kandiyohi County's aging van?
WILLMAR -- When a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held recently to celebrate the opening of a new office for the tech company Genesis10, officials with the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission would liked to have been the hosts. But they weren't, because Genesis10 picked Eau Claire, Wis., for its new facility instead. What could the Economic Development Commission have done differently? Some additional business incentives might be needed if Willmar and Kandiyohi County are to strengthen their competitiveness among the Midwest's smaller-market cities, said Steve R
WILLMAR -- Rice Memorial Hospital has quietly abandoned its plan to build a new Rice Care Center nursing home and senior living campus. Hospital officials are looking instead at renovating and expanding the existing Rice Care Center on West Willmar Avenue. "We just want to continue with the pro-cess and go back to the table," Mike Schramm, the hospital's chief executive, said Wednesday. Hospital board members concurred, voting at their meeting Wednesday to authorize up to $10,000 in consulting fees for architects at Horty Elving to revise the plan. This step is necessary in order for the p
Jerri Linke doesn't consider herself a political person. But there she was on Friday, at the microphone in front of close to 500 people at a town hall meeting on health care reform. "I just could not keep myself from saying my piece," Linke, a retired educator who lives in Spicer, said afterwards. "I just have been so concerned about what I'm seeing." She said she sees a 1,018-page document with no specifics about health care reform or about its cost. "Nothing is spelled out. Everything is generalities.