Senator Grassley toured the Humboldt County Memorial Hospital to discuss rural hospi-tals
Chuck Grassley, United States Senator from Iowa, listens to a member of the audience during his visit in Humboldt on March 21 at the Springvale Senior Living Center. Photo courtesy Bruce Watnem.
By APRIL KELLEY
HUMBOLDT - Humboldt County Memorial Hospital (HCMH) CEO Michelle Sleiter spoke about Senator Grassley’s visit to the hospital during their recent board meeting on Tuesday, March 25.
Sleiter told the board that due to protests at his previous stop in Franklin County at a public meeting at the courthouse there, it was decided to change his appearance at the hospital slightly.
His visit to the hospital in Humboldt however, had been an invite-only visit.
“I got a call from their whole secret service team on the way here saying they were concerned as they were talking about bringing everyone (the protestors) to Humboldt,” Sleiter said.
Because of the threat of the protests, they rerouted the Senator to Independent Living so that it would be easier to get in and out.
“As you know, he is under full police detail so the Secret Service was very heightened. We did end up having four or five protestors that did maintain their respective space and stayed off the property,” Sleiter said.
She is looking to update their policy on protesting and have something in place in the next several months.
Hospice
Rural Liaison James Roetman reported that the Paula J. Baber Hospice House in Fort Dodge had closed due to financial losses.
“They received a lot of negative attention for closing that. The good news is they have identified three or four other options for families in the Fort Dodge area related to inpatient hospice care,” Roetman said.
Humboldt does have its own hospice room at the hospital available for families in need of it.
Read the full story in this week's issue of the Humboldt Independent!
