Rio Games: Americans notch success on track, court.
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THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
www.iolaregister.com
Thursday, August 18, 2016
A European adventure Iolan relishes chance to travel, study in Germany
By JIM MCLEAN KHI News Service
By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
T
he past six months have been a whirlwind for Christian Kauth. Since late February, the 23-year-old former Iolan has: — Successfully completed 12 hours of coursework through Washburn University’s study abroad program in Osnabrueck, Germany, which ended in early July. — Spent the latter portions of July and early Au-
Tax hikes on hospitals may halt cuts to Medicaid
Christian Kauth, 23, spent several months studying in Isnabrueck, Germany. Below is a picture of Isnabrueck’s Old Town district. gust zig-zagging his way across Europe, visiting 13 different countries, swim-
ming in the North Sea and camping in the Italian Alps. — Returned stateside late last week, giving him less than seven days to get his affairs in order in Iola before returning today to his Washburn campus in Topeka. “I’m still trying to catch my breath,” he said with a laugh Wednesday. “Being gone for six months, there’s a lot to do before I get back to school. There’s not much chance to rest. It’s just go, go, go.” But Kauth doesn’t want it any other way. “If anything, I wish I could have stayed over there longer,” he said. “It was the best experience of my life.” KAUTH, son of Iolans Mark and Dianne Kauth, is entering his last year at Washburn, where he’s studying both German and Eng-
lish. He originally planned to earn a degree in science before changing course a year or so into college. The altered plans extended his college life from four years to five. As part of his coursework to earn a degree in a foreign language, he was required to study abroad for a semester. “I was completely OK with it,” he said. And the experience more than lived up to his expectations. Kauth lived in a flat, or small apartment, in Osnabrueck, a town of about 150,000 — about the size of Springfield, Mo. — roughly 100 miles from the North Sea coast. There, he studied courses on the German and English
Facing increasing criticism from h e a l t h care prov i d e r s about recent cuts in Medicaid reimbursement Gov. Sam r a t e s , Brownback Gov. Sam Brownback said Wednesday that he will attempt to restore the cuts by increasing a tax on hospitals. In a statement issued Wednesday afternoon, Brownback said he was forced in May to order a 4 percent cut in provider reimbursement rates after efforts to negotiate an increase in the surcharge failed. The cuts took effect in July. “We will continue those efforts in the next legislative session,” he said. “I look forward to working with the Legislature to restore the 4 percent cut in reimbursement rates and will call on them to pass an increase in the provider tax.” The $56.3 million reduction in Medicaid reimbursements was part of nearly $100 million in cuts that Brownback ordered to cover a projected deficit in the fiscal year 2017 budget. Kansas is one of 49 states
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Residents find a home at Heartland Meadows By RICK DANLEY The Iola Register
Heartland Meadows opened its doors to the public for the first time Wednesday. Settled on a lush patch of farmland at the corner of Oregon Road and U.S. 169, the residential facility is designed to care for 12 individuals at a time and is currently welcoming new applications. Heartland Meadows is a licensed Home Plus facility. According to Leslie Weir, the facility’s operator, the virtue of the Home Plus program is that it provides more intimate, individualized care for its residents than they would typically find at a traditional nursing home. The center provides three levels of care, from basic needs — food service, bathing, administration of medicine — to more advanced nursing attention. Weir, along with owners Rick and Jalayne Nelson, will retain a small staff of aides at the home as well 24-hour licensed nursing care. “A big thing here is ‘aging in place,’” said Weir, who has worked
as a registered nurse for 20 years. “Assisted living facilities will often get to the place where they can’t take care of [a resident] anymore...and so they send them away. Which means you have this person five ≠≠≠ and you get to know them and then you say, ‘I’m sorry, you’re going to have to go to a nursing home.’ How cruel is that? That’s why being able to age in place is so important to us.” The “small house” philosophy at the core of Heartland’s mission is reduced to a portable form on the facility’s website: “We are a skilled nursing home situated in a residential setting.” “Places always try to be ‘home-like,’” said Weir. “We’re not trying to be ‘home-like’ — we’re trying to be home. We’re trying to give people a better life. That’s what brought me into this work. ... The three biggest plagues in nursing homes are loneliness, helplessness and boredom.” Heartland Meadows hopes to be an antidote. The 12-room ranch-style
Betty Zink, 89, left, is the first resident at Heartland Meadows, a Home Plus facility newly opened at the northeast edge of Iola. REGISTER/RICK
DANLEY
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Quote of the day Vol. 118, No. 205
“Ideas shape the course of history.” — John Maynard Keynes, English economist 75 Cents
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