Newton
Serving Newton & Jasper County Since 1902
Daily News
Thursday, June 26, 2014
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Newton, Iowa
Ordinance change for addition of collection fees to outstanding ambulance billing
OBITUARIES Alfred Dittmer Jr., 76 Ina N. Peterson, 89 Patricia Lourens, 61 INSIDE TODAY
Special to the Daily News
Local
Zoo insects visit Newton library Page 2A
Ty Rushing/Daily News Medical Laboratory Technician Megan Brant is preparing a sample for testing at the new Health Enterprises of Iowa Medical Laboratory on Tuesday. The lab, located in a space on the former Maytag Headquarters, is HEI’s first laboratory and it became operational just last month after two years of development.
New medical lab functioning at former Maytag headquarters
Health
Summer is salad time
By Ty Rushing Daily News Senior Staff Writer
Page 7A
Sports
Card girls get win in second game Page 1B
Weather
Friday
High 82 Low 70
Saturday
High 83 Low 69 Weather Almanac
Wed., June 25 High 86 Low 65 No Precipitation
Astrograph Page 5B Classifieds Page 4B Comics & Puzzles Page 6A Dear Abby Page 6A Opinion Page 4A Obituaries Page 3A Police Page 3A Our 113th Year No. 28
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HEI See Page 5A
Chris Vernon promoted to co-chief executive officer Special to the Daily News
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Health Enterprises of Iowa is a nonprofit company that strives to provide select medical services in a communitybased manner. HEI is jointly owned by a group of more than 20 of the state’s hospitals — including Skiff Medical Center. About two years ago, the company got the idea to build its own state-of-the-art medical laboratory so it could provide Iowans with another valuable service. Newton was chosen to house this new laboratory, and just last month, after about a year of renovation, it finally became fully active. HEI Medical Laboratory Director Deb Corlew is excited about the potential for this new facility, which is located at the former Maytag Corporation headquarters on the western edge of downtown Newton. “This lab is unique because we are currently doing hospital work for Skiff Medical Center, and then we plan to get reference testing from a number of different hospitals,” Corlew said. Corlew said that a number of Iowa’s hospitals have to go out of state to get testing completed, and she envisions her laboratory becoming a regional destination for them. However, she said, servicing the local patients at Skiff and other HEI hospitals is still a top priority. “(HEI) is always looking for ways to
help their member hospitals,” Corlew said. “There are a lot of tests that we will be able to do on a daily basis.” She added that by forming this lab, they are saving hospitals a lot of money, which has become invaluable, as many smaller regional hospitals in the state are looking for more and more ways to cut costs. Skiff has been no exception to this situation. Corlew said it was part of Skiff ’s strategic plan to partner with HEI on this lab. Since the new lab has been functional, Skiff has closed its lab facilities. “By being close to Skiff Medical Center, we were able to take most of the laboratory services out of the hospital and place them here,” Corlew said. “Right now, we are just doing work for Skiff, but a few months down the road, we will have other hospitals that we will be doing work for. We just hope to keep growing from there.” The lab does all clinical tests involving blood and bodily fluids. HEI has 13 staff members at the lab and three phlebotomists who are still stationed at Skiff. Corlew wanted to clarify that if patients needed blood drawn, they should still go to Skiff. She said the phlebotomists are available 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.
Chris Vernon, president and chief operating officer of The Vernon Company, has been promoted to president and cochief executive officer effective July 1. Vernon will retain the position of president and continue to be active in daily business operations across all Vernon operating divisions. William F. (Bill) Vernon will continue as the company’s chairman and serve as co-chief executive officer. Chris Vernon has been with the company since 1987 and has held various responsibilities in sales and marketing. He was appointed to president and chief operating officer in 1999. He is a graduate of Lake Forest Academy, Lake Forest, Illinois, and has an undergraduate degree in political science and a master’s degree in business administration (Kellogg Graduate School of Management) from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. He worked for Harris/Lanier Corporation
for three years prior to joining Vernon. Bill Vernon is the third generation of family management and ownership. He joined the company in 1956 after serving in the United States military and began working in sales and marketing. He was named President of The Vernon Company in 1969 and later Chairman and CEO after his father’s death in 1974. He has received numerous honors for his dedication to the growth of the promotional product industry. “This is another step in our orderly succession planning & leadership transition process that has been occurring the past several decades,” Bill Vernon said. “Chris has proven himself as an effective leader during good and tough business cycles. He has also built an outstanding executive and administrative team which we are very proud of. They have been key in the management and growth of our business in the promotional product and graphics markets.”
Beginning July 1, the Newton Fire Department will begin implementation of an ordinance change passed by the Newton City Council in June. “In an effort to recover revenue owed to the city, Newton will be implementing a new program to promote payments from those who have refused to pay their delinquent ambulance charges,” the release stated. “Beginning July 1, a 25 percent cost of collection will be added to the balance of any outstanding ambulance charges and the debt will be turned over to a collection agency.” The Newton Fire Department noted 95 percent of Newton citizens pay their bills on time, and the department will continue to work with individuals to try and keep ambulance fees from becoming delinquent. “This new collection effort is for the minority who do not pay their share,” the release stated. For more information about an outstanding ambulance bill, contact the department at (641) 792-3347.
Museum open house to showcase ‘WINDerful Tales’ By Daily News Staff The Jasper County Historical Museum will host an open house from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday to celebrate the opening of the Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area’s award-winning display “WINDerful Tales” showcasing how Jasper County residents have harness the power of the wind, past, present and future. The story began with wooden and metal windmills that served the farmstead and made life a bit easier for farming families. Next Newton’s Winpower Co. developed a windmill that, when attached to a generator, producted electricity. The story continues to the giant wind turbines being used today. The display was made possible by grants from Silos & Smokestacks and the Jasper County Foundation. All are invited to attend.
Play ball
Jocelyn Sheets/Daily News Newton Community School District Maintenance Supervisor Jack Suttek has confirmed the new scoreboard for Eversman Field at Woodland Park is up and operational. Suttek said that his team put it up during last Thursday’s storm so that it would be ready just in time for last weekend’s Cardinal Classic baseball tournament. He wanted to thank his team for their hard work, First Newton National Bank for the monetary donation and Smith’s Quality Rental for waiving its equipment rental fees.