Month: August 2023

Joni Ernst’s hosted a town hall Friday, August 4 at Access Energy Cooperative on her River to River Tour across the state of Iowa. The room was full as Mayor Steve Brimhall led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance and introduced the senator. Ernst said she was there to “take the heat” and immediately opened the conversation up for questions.

Out of the gate, a question on what can be done to restore citizens’ trust and belief in our government was asked. While Ernst admitted it can be a bit depressing working on these issues and fighting through the corruption surfacing in our government agencies, she said, “I’ve done a lot of traveling around the globe and folks, we still live in the best nation on the face of the planet…we can get through this. I’m an eternal optimist.”

The theme continued when a question was raised about election reform and trust in the election process. Joni Ernst mentioned her previous role as a county auditor and said, “I trust our elections we have here in the state of Iowa.” She went on to say she believes it is up to the states to come up with their own election process and while not all states have the best system, it would be detrimental if the federal government was to take over the election process. Claiming again, Iowa may have one of, if not the best election processes in the country.

States rights was a common thread in the Senator’s remarks and reasoning in her voting and support for certain bills. A question about Critical Race Theory in schools was brought up and in response Senator Ernst feels it is up to local and state departments to handle, not the federal government. States rights were a major part of her decision in her support for the Respect for Marriage Act. Joni Ernst feels the bill returns the choice to each state. So, because the state of Iowa recognizes same sex marriage, government actors in Iowa must respect the law and give the same rights to all married couples stating, “If you don’t like same sex marriage, talk to your state officials here in Iowa about that.”

When interviewing Ernst after the town hall, KILJ asked if there was something on her mind she was surprised was not mentioned during this particular town hall. Ernst said, “Of course we’re working on the farm bill. And the farm bill wasn’t brought up at all today which is really unusual….there will be some push and pull as we work through this…..it may not be done by the end of September, but I anticipate by the early part of next year we’ll be able to get it done and signed into law.”

Henry County Public Health, the Henry County Health Center, and ISU Extension and Outreach partnered to complete a new community health assessment of Henry County. This assessment will allow them to form a 3-year action plan to improve the health of Henry County.

They began by surveying the community and results were shared at a recent Healthy Henry County Communities meeting. A few of the findings from this survey include:

– The top health concerns in Henry County are Mental Health, Obesity, Substance Abuse, and Aging Problems.

– One of the questions asked of surveyors in Henry County was the five most Important factors for a healthy community and good quality of life. The top five answers were access to health care, good schools, low crime/safe neighborhoods, good jobs and healthy economy, and quality and affordable housing.

– When asked which barriers keep individuals and their families from being healthy, Henry County residents top 5 concerns were low wages, access to mental health care, lack of free recreational opportunities, health insurance coverage, and access to specialty care. Similarly, Henry County residents reported mental health services, specialty physicians, healthier food, wellness services, and affordable health insurance as missing or most needed in our community to improve their health.

– Residents were also asked what things our community does well. The five top answers were locally owned and operated businesses, parks and recreation, trails and sidewalks, quality schools, and reasonable commutes. The top five answers in areas our community could improve comprised of affordable and quality housing, affordable and quality childcare, variety of food options, good jobs, and transportation options (such as taxi, bus, and bike).

Healthy Henry County Communities members also reviewed local health data related to findings in the survey. That data showed the following:

– Henry County ranked lower than both the state of Iowa and the United States in cases of Diabetes and Prediabetes. 7.8% of adults age 20+ diagnosed with diabetes, this is 0.6% lower than the state of Iowa and 1.2% lower than the United States percentage at 9%.

– In the category of Heart Disease and Stroke, Henry County ranked higher in percentage of Medicare beneficiaries with heart disease at 30.1% (6.1% higher than Iowa, 3.2% higher than national), coronary heart disease mortality at 129.5 cases per 100,000 people (27.2 higher than Iowa, 38 higher than national), and stroke mortality at 47.8 per 100,000 residents (5.4 higher than Iowa, 10.2 higher than national).

– In Henry County 18% of adults are smokers compared to 17% in the state of Iowa.

– The leading causes of death under age 75 in Henry County are

o Cancer, the top 5 most common being lung & bronchus, breast, prostate, colon & rectum, and melanoma of the skin. (Risk Factors: Obesity, diet, physical activity, alcohol, cigarette smoking and tobacco use, infections, radiation, and environmental risk factors)

o Heart Disease (Risk Factors: High Blood Pressure, High LDL Cholesterol, diabetes, smoking and secondhand smoke exposure, obesity, unhealthy diet, and physical activity)

o Accidents

Kelly Carr, Community Outreach Coordinator with Henry County Public Health, states that looking at both the survey results and related statistics helps give them an overview of the major health concerns and contributing factors for Henry County. They will then use this information to create a 3-year health improvement plan that Henry County Public Health, Healthy Henry County Communities, Henry County Health Center and ISU Extension and Outreach will work on together. The Community Health Assessment and Health Improvement Plan will be posted when completed at HealthyHenryCounty.org/PublicHealth.