The Iola Register
Weekender
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Iolan to compete in martial arts See B1
Saturday, June 1, 2013
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ACH more than just healthcare
A LIFE OF INTRIGUE
By BOB JOHNSON bob@iolaregister.com
Murl D. Munger observed Memorial Day services Monday at Highland Cemetery.
Munger an expert in foreign policy By SUSAN LYNN susan@iolaregister.com
It’s one thing to spout off. It’s another to know what you’re talking about. So when Dee Munger says he thinks U.S. foreign policy is “adrift,” it helps to know he has spent his life in the company of world leaders and their military might. Munger, 81, was in town over the Memorial Day weekend for his 65th class reunion from Iola High School. Born and mostly bred in Iola, Munger also served with Iola’s National Guard unit from 1968 to 1973, including as its commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion 137th Infantry unit.
In 1973, Munger moved to Carlisle, Pa., where he began a career of foreign service through the Strategic Studies Institute after graduating from the U.S. Army War College. He’s traveled to 42 countries in the line of duty that had him meeting sometimes with heads of state to assess their relationship to the United States. “I was a collector of information,” Munger said, reporting either directly or indirectly to the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, and even the White House. Munger has investigated the growth of state-sponsored
terrorism beginning with the Soviet Union during the Cold War and up through current times in the Mideast; reported on the civil unrest in Central America; investigated the underwater sonar system used to detect submarines; and studied the war on drugs and border patrol along the U.S.Mexico border, just to name a few of his areas of concentration. THOUGH there’s probably not a stauncher defender of American values, Munger doesn’t necessarily see it as the role of the U.S. to try to See MUNGER | Page A5
Allen County Hospital, which will have Regional added to its name July 1, does more than just provide health care for Iola area residents. Ron Baker, its administrator, pointed out the hospital also brings revenue to town through charges for services and salaries paid 150 staff. Baker spoke at a See, Hear Iola presentation Friday morning. Baker noted the current hospital opened in 1952, having been built at a cost of $618,000 and at its peak had 65 beds in the late 1970s. Then, with charges diagnosis-driven, “we often had all the beds filled and people in the halls,” said Baker, who worked there as a lab technician after graduating from the University of Kansas. That changed in 1982 when the federal government adopted a method of charging for services that Baker said resembled the flat-rate method used with car repairs. “If a patient came with pneumonia,” he said, as an example, “the ‘book’ might say the cost of making the patient well was $5,000. If it took less than expected, the hospital made more money; if it took more, the hospital made less.” Efforts were made to get patients in and out quickly. “The only way to survive
Ron Baker was the speaker at See, Hear Iola Friday. was high volume,” Baker said, with small hospitals losing out to those in metropolitan areas. In 2005, the federal government began reimbursing for Medicare patients on a cost-basis, plus 1 percent, helping rural hospitals with predominantly older populations such as Allen County. The case for critical access hospitals also came into play for rural areas such as Iola. These have a limit of 25 beds. Critical access hospitals don’t provide long-term inpatient care “and you’re not likely to see highly technical procedures, such as openheart surgery, done at Allen County,” he said. ACH is here an “an access point to help” in the health care stream. The local hospital, and others like it, do have a role See ACH | Page A7
Students learn service
THAT’S A WRAP
By BOB JOHNSON bob@iolaregister.com
Two Iola seniors-to-be learned more about Rotary International’s encouragement of adult members to put service above self in a leadership experience. Arion Kunkler and Scout Henry attended RYLA Camp — Rotary Youth Leadership Awards — at Tahlequah, Okla., April 3-7. They related their experiences and gratitude for the opportunity to Iola Rotarians, their sponsors, Thursday. Henry noted the camp emphasized leadership and communication skills while breaking the campers out of their comfort zones. “For me it was an incredible, lifechanging experience,” Henry said. “It empowered me to think I really could change the world. I’ve always wanted to help people, but didn’t know how,” and thinks she now will be able to apply techniques she learned in the Rotary program. An object of the camp was to promote cooperation, done at times
Register/Bob Johnson
Arion Kunkler, left, and Scout Henry in an unconventional manner and sometimes with controversial topics, including gay marriage, which “had us learning to cooperate” and accept, Henry said. See SERVICE | Page A3
Trail volunteers, from left, David Toland, Don Burns and Pat Haire, walk along the Southwind Trail on Elm Creek Bridge.
Southwind rail trail nears finish By STEVEN SCHWARTZ steven@iolaregister.com
For three serious-minded men, Don Burns, David Toland, and Pat Haire were positively giddy as they stood on the Southwind Trail south of town. In only a year after they began breaking trail, the seven-mile stretch from Iola to Humboldt is all but finished. It was on June 1, 2012, that a group of volunteers began working to clear the trail. Toland said it has been a
“combination of a motivated group of volunteers and the pressure of grants that had a 12-month limit,” that kept the work on track. But, as Burns put it simply, “we just wanted to get it done.” The others nodded in agreement. “There’s your quote,” Toland replied. The ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the extension of the rail trail is at 2 p.m. next Saturday, and will take place where the Prairie Spirit Trail and the Southwind Trail meet at Riverside Park. The trail’s southernmost See SOUTHWIND | Page A6
Vol. 115, No.153
Fast and furious
Register/Steven Schwartz
The dam on Elm Creek displays the high water volume from recent storms. Forecasts predict more possible thunderstorms for the weekend. 75 Cents
Iola, KS