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IKM-Manning Community School District Superintendent, Trevor Miller, shares his time in that position with the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton District as well, but a change in that school system effective this year will be a benefit for IKM-Manning.
This will now be a 50/50 split, with two days in one district one week and then three in it the next. Just like all other schools in the listening area, IKM-Manning will be starting classes on the first date available, Aug. 23, with a full day of school. Miller says it will be a nice one-day transition to start the year and then come back after a couple day break for the full week. New teachers will be starting this Friday, Aug. 16 and returning staff on Aug. 19. This year brings a smaller number of new instructors than last.

Enrollment at the school has gone up the last few years and Miller attributes this somewhat to a return of younger people to the communities. And whether new or returning, students will notice some work was done at the various buildings over the summer break.
Probably one of the most exciting things for the 2019/20 school year is the introduction of a pilot program with Green Hills Area Education Agency called Rising Hope Academy. The classroom will be located in Manning and serve up to eight students, not only from the IKM-Manning district, but from surrounding ones as well. Miller says with all the mental health issues and stresses of today, it is great to be able to take part in an initiative that provides support and a conducive learning environment closer to home. Miller says he is truly looking forward to spending more time in the district and in the classrooms and he is excited to work with staff on how to utilize the $25,000 awarded through a Bayer-Monsanto grant in support of their Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program. He adds their goals for 2019/20 are to look to improve and innovate for the best interests of the students and give them a variety of opportunities to be future ready and successful after high school. A link to the IKM-Manning website for back-to-school details and important dates can be found below.
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https://www.ikm-manning.k12.ia.us/

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After seven years at the helm, CEO of Manning Regional Healthcare Center (MRHC), John O’Brien, has announced he will be retiring effective September 1. At the same time, the MRHC Board of Directors has also announced that current Chief Nursing Officer, Linn Block, RN, BSN, MHA, has been named the new CEO. “Our hospital benefitted tremendously from the experience and leadership of John O’Brien for the last seven years,” says Board President, Bret Richards,. “We not only thank him for his valued service, but also for providing our board with many months of working with and preparing Linn Block to ensure a smooth transition for this CEO change.” O’Brien has more than 44 years of experience in healthcare, the majority served in an administrative capacity. He came to MRHC in 2012, during the planning and construction of their 62,000 square foot hospital. He says he is very proud of what his team has been able to accomplish over his time here. O’Brien and his wife will be moving back to Michigan to be closer to family. “Our whole family lives within 10 miles of one another and it will be great to be able to see them on an ongoing basis,” he says. “And I’m truly blessed that my parents are still around. They’re 87 and 89, so we look forward to spending time with them upon moving back.” Block has been a registered nurse since 1992, beginning her career at Mercy Medical Center. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in 1999 and a master’s degree in 2011. She had also previously worked at St. Anthony Regional Hospital in Carroll. Block and her husband, Nick, live on a farm in Calhoun County and have three children: Joey, Jacob and Brinkley.

Iowa Public Radio

One in eight Americans live in urban areas, but 60 percent of deaths from trauma occur in rural areas. In Iowa, most rural emergency rooms are only equipped for basic emergencies -- and have limited budgets for staff and equipment. But a course led by trauma specialists is helping small ERs prepare for big emergencies.In the Manning Regional Healthcare Center’s emergency room, a team of about a half dozen nurses crowded around a young woman stretched out on a hospital bed.Nurse Taya Vonnahme read off her status.
"We have a 28-year-old female. ATV rollover. Left chest in abdominal pain. Heart rate at 120," she said. Vonnahme then quickly assigned everyone a role. "So I’m on crash cart. Robyn’s on IVs. You’re on oxygen. You’re on procedures," she said. 

This may sound scary -- but it wasn't actually a real emergency. It was an exercise set up by Rick Sidwell, a trauma surgeon at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines.

On a summer day, Sidwell was in Manning, a town of about 1,500 located 90 miles west of Des Moines.
He was teaching a course called rural trauma team development. Through exercises like this, he showed the staff efficient ways for dealing with fast-paced trauma cases -- like checking for airway or neurological issues, applying a tourniquet -- and even using a checklist. This is something he does at his hospital.
“We even have one up on our wall, just when we know a trauma’s coming in, this is the stuff we’re getting out,” Sidwell said.
For more than two decades, Sidwell has travelled to hospitals nationally -- and even internationally -- to teach this class.
"It’s a course that's been translated into French, into Spanish because this is a need that is is a universal need -- not just Iowa," he said.
Iowa is where the class started, Sidwell said, when nearly three decades ago, a Marshalltown surgeon realized many trauma concepts were geared towards urban hospitals with lots of resources.
According to Sidwell, the class is about helping ERs in rural places, like Manning Regional -- which has just 17 beds -- and is the first place many patients end up following a heart attack or hunting accident.

"It's all about how are we going to take care of injured people at the local center, knowing that that's completely different than how things occur at a big urban trauma center," he said.
That can be a matter of life and death — especially in rural areas. Research shows people in rural areas are 14 percent more likely to die from traumatic injuries than those in urban areas.
Nurse Brian Feist, who also teaches the course and works at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines, said small hospitals know how to help patients. They just face other barriers.
"The problem they have is they don't have the necessary equipment because it doesn't happen that often for them," said Feist. "A lack of frequency is tough to justify for a $10,000 rapid infuser."
That’s why Feist said a large part of the class is focused on how to prepare patients for transfer larger facilities -- like the one he works at -- by ambulance or air.
"A huge amount of our injured patients come to us as transfers," he said, "so the better prepared we can get our critical access hospitals, the better that patient has for longevity in a great outcome."
This was one of the reasons that Manning’s ER trauma coordinator Boni Johnson was interested in the course.
Johnson said about 50 percent of their patients have to go to places like Des Moines or Iowa City.
"A lot of them are, you know, cardiology, orthopedics," she said. "We just don't have a lot of those resources right here. And not only within our facility, but within the facilities around us."
Many of the nation’s rural hospitals are under intense financial pressure. More than 100 have closed in the last nine years -- though none have closed in Iowa -- and others have cut back on services like delivering babies.

Johnson said she’s impressed that the course’s instructors seem to really understand the importance of rural providers -- and their dwindling resources.
"You are a jack of all trades, master of none, you can be asked to run a cardiac drip one minute and be taking care of an orthopedic patient next," she said.
Sidwell said the course is also about addressing the importance of rural trauma care.
"If we really want to as a state, if we really want to as a country, eliminate unnecessary disability and death from injury, then we have to address the important role that the rural environment plays," he said.
The course is provided free of charge to hospitals through the Iowa Department of Public Health. 

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The Medicare system is one that often creates more questions than answers, but Manning Regional Healthcare Center (MRHC) is working to ensure that area seniors have the resources they need to make well-informed, important healthcare coverage decisions. A new Senior Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP) and Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) volunteer counselor, Dee Schmitz, is there to help area residents and safeguard them from becoming a victim of Medicare fraud. “We’re so excited to welcome Dee in her now role as a SHIIP volunteer, says CFO, Amy McLaughlin, CPA. “She will be a great resource for individuals turning 65, those who are considering changing Medicare benefits or for anyone simply wanting to learn more about their current benefits.” Schmitz will meet with individuals at the hospital on Wednesday afternoons, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., beginning July 31. After retiring as the business office manager at Regency Park Nursing & Rehab in Carroll, Schmitz went through a comprehensive training program to become a counselor. She chose this path, knowing it will be fulfilling to assist and educate others. “I’m looking forward to helping people with some of the confusion they experience when first approaching Medicare,” Schmitz says. I’m looking forward to meeting new people and working together to find solutions to their questions.” She will not recommend insurance companies, plans or agents, but rather help residents make informed decisions and learn how to detect Medicare scams. Schmitz and her husband, Tom, are residents of Templeton and have three children and six grandchildren. Anyone interested in setting up an appointment can call MRHC at 712-655-2072.

Audubon County Advocate Journal

MANNING – Manning-born singer-songwriter, Brian Joens, returned to Manning on Thursday, July 18 for an evening of music on the courtyard at Manning Hausbarn-Heritage Park’s Roten Bar Tavern. Brian’s unique style of Americana and folk was the perfect accompaniment to a small-town summer’s evening.
A strong breeze and growing shade on an otherwise very warm evening kept a large crowd of all ages comfortable as Joens played two hours of originals and covers. Deardorff Highland Cattle Food Truck returned for a second consecutive week to provide delicious sandwiches and sides to all those who came out for the evening.

The crowd included a group of professors and students involved with the Mandela Fellowship from Drake University in Des Moines. In what was truly a special moment for the community that had gone to lengths to make them feel welcome, one of the Fellows took the microphone, while Joens quietly strummed behind her, to briefly share a poetic tribute to their trip to Iowa and Manning.
Like and follow Manning Hausbarn-Heritage Park on Facebook to keep up to date on other activities and events we’ll be hosting throughout the year. In addition to our Thirsty Thursdays at the Hausbarn, some upcoming events held at the Konferenz Centre include a Sip & Shop event on Tuesday, July 30, and Mikayla Lane in concert on Sunday, August 18.

Carroll Broadcasting

The newly finished Kerkhoff Shelter House at Trestle Park in Manning will be opened up later this week for Manning Municipal Utilities annual customer appreciation event. From 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 25, electric, water, natural gas and communication services customers are invited to a brief ribbon cutting for the new shelter house as well as a free meal. The evening also includes gifts, the Lineman 360 for customers to try out, boom truck rides and the ability to take a closer look at an ambulance and police car. The first 150 customers through the door will receive a free rain gauge or coffee cup.

Carroll Broadcasting

On Thursday, the City of Manning welcomed a group of Sub-Saharan African leaders who were selected to participate in the prestigious Mandela Washington Fellowship through Drake University in Des Moines. The 25 Fellows are between the ages of 25 and 35 and represent 18 different nations. Program Coordinator and Asst. Director of Community Engaged Learning, Amanda Martin, explains what the Fellowship entails.
The group’s day in Manning included several presentations at the Hausbarn Konfrenz Centre, tours of the Ranniger and Muhlbauer family farms and a walking tour of the community’s historic Main Street. One Fellow, Cheu Pswarayi, is the executive director of MedTours Africa in Zimbabwe, a company she founded that helps patients travel for treatments that are not available in their home countries. Pswarayi says the most valuable lessons she learned in Manning concerned planning and investment.

Mike Mpoyi is a doctor in Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He says many people in his home country cannot afford medical treatment, and medical professionals often have to pay for patient care themselves. As part of his effort to increase access to healthcare, Mpoyi serves as the CEO of a non-profit organization that provides insurance and treatment to impoverished populations. According to Mpoyi, the lessons in leadership he has learned during the Fellowship will be instrumental in expanding the organization when he returns home.
More than 700 African leaders participate in the Mandela Washington Fellowship at universities across the United States. Pswarayi and Mpoyi say they are fortunate to have been selected for the Iowa program and called the Manning visit “enriching and fulfilling.” For more information on the 25 Mandela Fellows, follow the link included with this story on our website.
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https://www.drake.edu/yali/fellows/

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For the fourth consecutive year, the community of Manning will host 25 young Sub-Saharan African leaders with the Drake University-sponsored Mandela Washington Fellowship program. The group will be participating in tours, presentations and activities that showcase the economic development efforts of business owners, the City of Manning and associated organizations as well as residents. The Fellows will arrive in Manning in the first half of the nine o’clock hour Thursday for morning presentations at the Hausbarn Konfrenz Centre. The afternoon includes a tour of the Ranniger and Mulhbauer family farms and a walking tour of the historic Main Street district. The day concludes with dinner and drinks and an opportunity to mix and mingle with members of the Manning community. Residents are encouraged to join the group at BrickHaus Brews from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Carroll BroadcastingDemocratic presidential candidate and former Vice President, Joe Biden, introduced his plan for rural America to about 250 people in Manning Tuesday. Those gathered at the Manning Hausbarn Konferenz Centre included area residents who were supporters and anxious to hear how Biden’s initiatives would have an impact at home and abroad. Prior to Biden’s speech, long-time IKM-Manning school teacher, Kristin Dreyer, said she not only thinks it is important to attend events like this, she also is vested in supporting someone who will take the steps necessary to shore up the rural economy. She and her husband, Jay, thought it important to bring their son, Eli, to the event as well.
Part of Biden’s plan addressed rural economic support for children, like Eli, to have the resources and infrastructure available to them so they can compete in business while remaining in the rural areas of the state to raise their families. Dryer was also hopeful that education would be at the forefront, saying teaching is a lot different than it was 20 years ago and needs have drastically changed. On the other side of the spectrum, local business owner, Bowe Kinkade, attended, wearing a Trump/Pence ‘20 baseball cap. Kinkade said he has been trying to get to the rallies for candidates passing through the area, and so far said he has not yet heard one very important piece of the puzzle in all the proposals.

Kinkade said Biden talked about building the middle class, but he believes they always take the tax money from the middle class. Kinkade wanted to know how we can grow if we have to keep financing it all. Kinkade owns a trucking company and said his support will remain with the candidate who is largely responsible for his business still being viable.
A video of Biden’s remarks from Tuesday’s event can be found on our Facebook page. More details about the content of his plan for rural America can be found in previous stories on our website.

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Former Vice President to Barack Obama and current 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden, told more than 250 people gathered at the Hausbarn Konferenz Centre in Manning this (Tuesday) morning that he had specific reasons for choosing now to run for office, and a three-point plan for rural America. Biden says the first reason he is running is to restore the soul of this country.
The current administration, Biden says, is not promoting that ideal. The second reason he says is to restore the backbone of America.

Part of that problem is the rural/urban divide and that in rebuilding the backbone, it shouldn’t matter whether you live in a skyscraper in Manhattan or in a small town like Manning. Biden says your children deserve the same opportunities, ones that afford them the choice of staying and raise their families where they choose. Biden says rural communities power this country, they feed our bodies, fuel our engines, are the stewards that protect our lands for everyone—they are part of the soul of who we are as a country. He then unveiled his plan for rural portions of the United States and it starts with equality in care.
He says health outcomes should not be determined by our zip code or how much money we make. He is not talking about Medicare for all, but rather says he wants to expand on Obamacare. Biden says that although it is a noble idea, universal healthcare removes private insurance and Medicare reimbursement rates are too low to support rural hospitals, like Manning Regional Healthcare Center. Because when a healthcare provider closes, he adds, jobs are lost and that impacts the rural economy, the second part of his plan. Nearly everything in a rural economy is also tied to ag, and the American farmer, Biden says, is being hurt by the current tariffs.
Biden promises a trade policy that starts at home and focuses on economic investments in green energy, including ethanol and biodiesel, and rural business investments in a green infrastructure. And he says even with all the problems we are facing, he is more optimistic than when he was elected to the senate at 29. “This is the American Dream, there is not a single thing we cannot do when we set our minds to it,” Biden says. And that is why he is refusing to postpone any longer. We will bring you reaction from attendees in upcoming broadcasts. A livestream video of the event can be found on our Facebook page.

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