Newton
Serving Newton & Jasper County Since 1902
Daily News
Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014
www.newtondailynews.com
Newton, Iowa
Loebsack tours REG Biorefinery upgrade By Jamee A. Pierson Daily News Staff Writer
Phil Abels, plant manager, along with other leaders in the company about what the upgrade will do at the biodiesel plant. “These upgrades will allow us to utilize a broader spectrum of lower-cost raw materials,” Brad Albin, REG vice president of manufacturing said. “It also advances our efforts to produce the highest
U.S. Congressman Dave Loebsack toured the upgrade at the Newton Biorefinery at Renewable Energy Group Wednesday. Loebsack saw first hand the facility that is still under construction and spoke with Daniel Oh, president and CEO of REG, Inc. and
quality product for our customers.” The upgraded process, including distillation, removes impurities and leaves behind the purest form of the fuel. The final product far exceeds quality standards set by the biodiesel industry, while meeting the LOEBSACK See Page 3A
Jamee A. Pierson/Daily News Loebsack speaks with Daniel Oh, President and CEO of REG, Inc. among other leaders in the company at the upgrade to the Newton Biorefinery.
Local veteran grateful to have letter he wrote in WWII returned By Ty Rushing Daily News Senior Staff Writer
Jamee A. Pierson/Daily News Classified as a “tweener” hospital, Skiff Medical Center continues to provide high quality care without the reimbursements similar sized critical access hospitals enjoy.
‘Tweener’ status an obstacle for Skiff to overcome By Jamee A. Pierson Daily News Staff Writer Skiff Medical Center’s recent challenges have been well documented and discussed throughout the community — the reasons behind the challenges and what Skiff hopes to do to remedy it are not as well known. A single word can explain one primary reason for the challenges: tweener. Among Iowa hospitals, there are four main categories that hospitals fall in: critical access, urban, tweener and rural referral. Skiff is known as a “tweener” hospital, which as the name suggests is “between” the critical access hospitals (CAH) and urban hospitals categories. “Of Iowa’s 118 hospitals, 82 are classified as critical access hospitals,” Brett Altman, president of Skiff Medical Center said. “Critical access hospitals are paid by Medicare 101 percent of the cost to provide inpatient and outpatient services.
One requirement to be a CAH is to have 25 or fewer inpatient beds, but because of the payment formula with Medicare, many of these hospitals have been doing quite well. The program has been a boon to rural areas, providing extra income to buy equipment, recruit providers and renovate or replace their buildings.” Communities ranging from under 1,000 residents to more than 10,000 residents have critical access hospitals. “Mercy Health and UnityPoint hospitals in Des Moines are urban hospitals that do more elaborate procedures, such as neurosurgery and cardiology, which are paid at a higher reimbursement,” Altman said. “Besides the larger scope and patient population volumes, these hospitals are usually system hospitals that enjoy some economies of scale.” As a “tweener” hospital, Skiff is too large and provides levels of care that are too high to qualify to be a critical access hospital,
but is too small to have economies of scale and absorb the financial risk associated with prospective payment systems or PPS programs. PPS pays smaller, rural hospitals a flat rate for a diagnosis, regardless of the actual services provided and the related costs. Also, Skiff receives less than a third of what is charged, 30.6 cents on the dollar, opposed to CAH receiving 101 percent. “Tweener hospitals tend to get paid significantly less than the actual cost to provide inpatient and outpatient services,” Altman said. “The majority of these hospitals have been operating in the red for many years and are documented to have the lowest profitability in comparison to the other payment classifications. Yet, because there are a limited number of hospitals in this category, only eight in Iowa, any requests for serious political attention have fallen on deaf ears.” TWEENER See Page 3A
Like many men from his generation, Newton resident Don Hummel served his country as a member of the armed services. And like many of his peers, sending and receiving letters from loved ones back home was key to keeping him going. Recently, the 89-yearold Navy veteran was given a gift by the family of an old friend — a letter he wrote to Fred Carpenter on March 2, 1944: “Dear Fred, Well old pal, I received your letter today. Boy, I mean to tell you that I’m really glad to hear from you,” the letter begins. Hummel said when he wrote this letter, he was at boot camp in Far-
ragut and had just returned from guard duty, which is unfortunately all he can remember about his particular letter at the moment. “I couldn’t believe it,” Hummel said about receiving his old letter. The story of how Hummel got his old letter back could be a story in itself. Carpenter’s family had an estate sale and someone purchased his old desk. The person who bought the desk discovered the letter, and realized it was sent during World War II by an active serviceman; however, the envelope was damaged and Hummel only signed the letter with his first name. The desk’s purchaser then sought out Doug Bishop, a local veterans LETTER See Page 3A
Ty Rushing/Daily News Don Hummel still can’t believe a letter he wrote to his late friend, Fred Carpenter, during World War II was returned to him. He said he can’t even recall writing the letter, but he’s grateful nonetheless to have the memory back.
Exercise benefits the brain, too
Jacobsen inspires despite disability
Regular exercise can benefit the body in many ways, helping men and women maintain healthier weights and lower their risks for developing potentially deadly diseases. | 2A
Playing football under the Friday night lights is the dream of all little boys. Collin Jacobsen is living his dream as starting defensive lineman for Newton High’s Cardinals. | 1B
INDEX Local News • 2A 7
98213 00008
$0.75
4
Today
High 71 Low 48 Calendar • 5A Obituaries • 5A
State News • 7A Opinion • 4A
Comics & Puzzles • 6A Dear Abby • 6A
Classifieds • 4B Astrograph • 5B
Thank you Carol Jones of Newton for subscribing to the Newton Daily News. To subscribe call (641) 792-5320
Volume No. 113 No. 106 2 sections, 18 pages