Reynolds appoints new district court judges

DES MOINES — Gov. Kim Reynolds announced her appointments of Gina Badding and Amy Moore as district court judges in Judicial Election District 2B.

Badding, of Carroll, received her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Iowa. She currently practices law with Neu, Minnich, Comito, Halbur, Neu & Badding, P.C. in Carroll.

Moore, of Ames, received her undergraduate degree from Iowa State University and her law degree from the Creighton University School of Law. She currently serves as a part-time judicial magistrate in Story County and practices law with Mid-Iowa Mediation and Law PLLC.

Judicial Election District 2B includes Boone, Calhoun, Carroll, Greene, Hamilton, Hardin, Humboldt, Marshall, Pocahontas, Sac, Story, Webster and Wright counties.

UnityPoint Health – Marshalltown Mammography Department ranked nationally

The mammography department at UnityPoint Health – Marshalltown has been ranked at the top of the nation by Press Ganey Associates, according to 2018 reports.

Press Ganey, which specializes in understanding and improving patient experience in healthcare, reported that UnityPoint Health Mammography ranked in the 99th percentile of 1,468 hospitals nationwide. This places Marshalltown’s performance among the top 14 hospitals in the nation. These results derive from the company’s Outpatient Services Report.

Two hundred eleven of 216 patients rated UnityPoint Health – Marshalltown as “very good” for test and treatment in the mammography department.

“We are proud to offer such an important service in Marshalltown and we are honored to receive this kind of feedback,” Jenni Friedly, president, UnityPoint Health – Marshalltown, said. “Our team strives to ensure each patient gets the best possible care in a comfortable, friendly environment. It is our goal to help our community have the tools they need to plan for a healthy future.”

Press Ganey Associates is a third-party vendor that sends surveys to patients to gather their feedback about care. Reports are then generated based on this feedback and given to hospitals. Marshalltown area patients commented specifically on staff’s concern for their health and wellbeing, comfort, ability to explain testing in a knowledgeable and simple way and also highly ranked the staff’s compassionate and friendly care.

The diagnostic imaging department, which includes mammography services, provides all the diagnostic imaging for patients. MRI also performed at the 98 percent rank. Along with mammography, this includes: X-rays, CT Scans, MRIs, Ultrasounds, Nuclear Medicine and Bone Density testings.

“Every woman over the age of 40 should get a yearly mammogram,” Tracy Herington, supervisor of the Diagnostic Imaging Department at UnityPoint Health – Marshalltown, said. “Screening mammograms help make it possible to find breast cancer early, when the successful treatment of the disease is the highest.

The UnityPoint Health – Marshalltown mammography department is located at UnityPoint Health – Marshalltown Medical Park, where all outpatient services are provided.

Family-owned steel company wins praise

ACKLEY — Iowa Steel Masters, a custom steel rollforming company, founded in 2014, provides nearly 10 million pounds of steel to customers creating custom panels for agricultural buildings, residential projects and commercial building paneling each year. The company can add another accolade to its list of achievements, Iowa Farm Bureau’s Renew Rural Iowa Entrepreneur Award.

The Ackley-based company works its steel in a repurposed 80,000 square-foot former sweet corn packing facility, serving as a tribute to agriculture for founder Matt Roelfs, who grew up on a family hog and grain farm just a few miles from the factory. Initially, the former corn canning facility was designed as a short-term option for Iowa Steel Masters, rented to Roelfs by a good friend for a great price. Things are going so well in the old canning facility that the building is the company’s permanent home.

“This building would have been rundown and unused in just a few years,” Roelfs said. “We were able to renovate a building that otherwise would have had no use, so we were able to rebuild and renew a part of Ackley and we’re proud to do it.”

Brian Krause, Hardin County Farm Bureau president and one of the presenters of the award, is thankful for the important role Iowa Steel Masters plays in the community as an employer of local farmers and supplier of steel to local farms and businesses. Krause said Iowa Steel Masters even made a building for the Hardin County Farm Bureau at the county fairgrounds, so he can attest to the quality of the product and customer focus.

“We need all the business we can get in rural Iowa to keep people in our town, particularly young people,” Krause said. “Businesses like Iowa Steel Masters come in and employ local residents and keep them in town and that gives young people something to look forward to. Matt’s business model is a great success story for someone who wants to start a business in rural Iowa and have a huge impact on the community.”

Roelfs describes customers accustomed to a “McDonalds” method of business, where clients know what they want and want it now. Roelfs’ five-year plan is focused on meeting those customer needs and working to improve the facility and processes to provide quality materials as efficiently as possible, right in the heart of Ackley.

For more information about RRI and the next RRI Business Success Seminar, “The Journey to Your Vision,” on April 26 in Clinton and the RRI Pathways, a searchable technology that connects entrepreneurs with resources, go to programs.iowafarmbureau.com/RRI/.

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