Client News
WASHINGTON (Indiana) – City, county and regional officials set the stage for continued revitalization and renewal of the Daviess County region with the official ribbon-cutting of the $3.1 million Commons facility in downtown Washington November 8. “The city of Washington has already taken several steps toward an energized downtown and this formal ribbon-cutting will accelerate that movement right in the heart of the city,” said Washington Mayor David Rhoads.
The multi-purpose venue, located south of Main Street in downtown Washington, includes the German-American Stage for concerts and special events, the TrueScripts Market Pavilion along Main Street, and the Knights of Columbus Event Pavilion east of the lawn seating space in front of the German-American stage.
“The community now has a multi-use venue that can function as a convenient location for convening local gatherings and hosting events that could attract visitors from throughout the Midwest,” said Bob Grewe, Executive Director of the Daviess County Economic Development Corporation. “This signals that Washington and Daviess County are serious about developing quality of life amenities that are essential to retaining and attracting families to our community.”
(Related coverage from this release appeared in Inside Indiana Business, WTHI-TV, Washington Times-Herald, Southern Indiana Business Report, Regional Opportunities Initiative news, WAMW, and more)
PAOLI, Indiana – Southern Indiana Community Health Care (SICHC) was recognized by the American Heart Association and American Medical Association in October for its commitment to improving blood pressure (BP) control rates, earning Silver-level recognition as part of Target: BP™.
The Silver award recognizes practices that have demonstrated a commitment to improving blood pressure control through measurement accuracy. “Donna Charles, a Chronic Care Nurse Manager with SICHC, and her team have done an excellent job in helping SICHC patients appropriately address and manage SICHC hypertension patients,” said Yolanda Yoder, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of SICHC. “This national award is a direct result of their important work for our patients and their families in Southern Indiana.”
High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a leading risk factor for heart attacks, strokes and preventable death in the U.S. According to the American Heart Association, there are 122.4 million U.S. adults living with hypertension. This is nearly half of all adults in the country. Unfortunately, just a quarter of them have their BP under control, making both diagnosis and effective management critical. In the U.S., heart disease and stroke are the No. 1 and No. 5 causes of death, respectively, and stroke is a leading cause of disability.
“Addressing blood pressure management is key for better cardiovascular health – and critical today, when heart disease and stroke continue to be leading causes of death for adults in the U.S.,” Dr. Yoder said. “High blood pressure is a leading risk factor of heart disease and stroke that can often be prevented or managed if diagnosed and treated properly.”
SICHC staff followed the 5 pillars of 30 Evidence Based activities set by Target BP initiative. Of those:
- Calibrate and validate b/p devices and have gone through training of “How to properly take a patient’s b/p”
- Adopt a protocol for repeat b/p measurements when readings are out of range
- Act rapidly to incoming abnormal b/p patient readings
- Partner with our patients on adopting a modifiable lifestyle change, while providing education on nutrition, physical activity & weight
- And ultimately gather data that can turn into actions of improvement and sustainability.
Target: BP is a national initiative formed by the American Heart Association and American Medical Association in response to the high prevalence of uncontrolled blood pressure. The initiative aims to help health care organizations and care teams, at no cost, improve blood pressure control rates through an evidence-based quality improvement program and recognizes organizations, like Southern Indiana Community Health Care, which are committed to improving blood pressure control.
“By committing to helping more people in Southern Indiana control their blood pressure and reduce their risks for future heart disease and stroke, SICHC is taking a key step to helping more people live longer, healthier lives,” said Yvonne Commodore-Mensah, PhD, MHS, RN, FAHA, Target: BP advisory group volunteer and associate professor at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. “SICHC’s participation in the Target: BP initiative shows its dedication to turning clinical guidelines into lifelines for patients and their families.”
Learn more at TargetBP.org.
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About the Southern Indiana Community Health Care nonprofit organization
Well-known as a high-impact health care provider committed to continuity of care, the nonprofit Southern Indiana Community Health Care (SICHC) organization is committed to providing high-quality, comprehensive, community-sensitive health care utilizing Christ-centered principles to medically underserved, rural communities. As a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), SICHC serves as a “safety net” provider for vulnerable populations and focuses on increasing access to primary care services for Medicaid and Medicare patients in rural communities. SICHC offers medical care in medically underserved areas of Crawford, Lawrence, Orange, and Washington counties. Southern Indiana Community Health Care is a member of the National Health Services Corps and receives program funding from the Health Resources and Services. For more information, please visit: https://sichc.org/
About Target: BPTM
Target: BP™ is a national initiative formed by the American Heart Association and the American Medical Association in response to the high prevalence of uncontrolled blood pressure. Target: BP helps health care organizations and care teams, at no cost, improve BP control rates through an evidence-based quality improvement program and recognizes organizations committed to improving BP control.
Media inquires: Michael Snyder MEK 317-805-4870
INDIANAPOLIS – Publicly confirming that the U.S.-Japan Alliance is a “cornerstone of peace, prosperity and freedom” in the Asia-Pacific region, Vice President Mike Pence will review current threats to democracy from China, Russia, North Korea and others at the Japan-America Society of Indiana Gala Oct. 17. The Vice President, who also served as the 50th Governor of Indiana, will share his insights on the heightened importance of the Japan-U.S. relationship and global alliances to meet and counter increasing geopolitical challenges.
“Given his continued leadership role in international and national affairs, Vice President Pence holds a unique vantage of the U.S.-Japan relationship and its critical economic and political importance to both the nation and our state,” said Theresa Kulczak, JASI Executive Director. “The United States and Japan jointly face many new developments from shifts in global and regional power balances, and we look forward to hearing Vice President Pence’s insights and perspectives.”
Smithville recognized nationally for deploying fiber networks that transform local economies and improve communities’ quality of life, and for “introducing innovative technologies with game-changing potential.”
ELLETTSVILLE, Indiana – Recognized for designing and building fiber networks that extend for “thousands of miles” in Indiana, Smithville received national attention as a leading broadband enterprise. The 102-year-old privately held company was named as one of America’s top 100 national broadband companies, according to Brad Randall, editor of Broadband Communities magazine.
“Smithville holds a long and established history of building high-level fiber networks for both residential and commercial, investing more than a quarter of a billion dollars,” said Randall. “Smithville has created innovative means to collaborate and develop ‘smart services’ for next-generation fiber and continues its leadership in uniquely serving rural areas.”
INDIANAPOLIS – Mike Pence, 48th Vice President of the United States and 50th Governor of Indiana, will serve as the Keynote Speaker at Annual Gala of the Japan-America Society of Indiana (JASI). The 2024 JASI Gala will take place Thursday, October 17 at the Indiana Roof Ballroom in Indianapolis.
Vice President Pence will share his perspectives on the importance of the Japan-U.S. relationship and global alliances in a challenging geopolitical landscape, ever so important with increasing threats from adversaries to democracy such as China, Russia, and N. Korea.
“The Vice President is a long-time champion of the United States’ and Indiana’s relationships with Japan. His leadership, both nationally and locally, has greatly enhanced the development of bilateral initiatives, partnerships, and economic investment. We look forward to welcoming him back to this annual event celebrating the great Indiana-Japan relationship in which he has played a key leadership role.” said Theresa Kulczak, JASI Executive Director.
VINCENNES – Professionals from the Gen Z and Millennial generations prefer and expect different workplace attributes than older workers, which can create challenges if expectations are not met, according to Kathleen Lapekas, an expert human resources consultant speaking at the October 3 Knox HR Roundtable. Sponsored by Knox County Indiana Economic Development, the free event will feature a range of critical HR topics. Lapekas will be joined at the VU Center for Applied Technology by HR professionals Lacey Houle of the U.S. Department of Labor and attorney T. Graham Dycus from Hart Bell, LLC.
“HR professionals face a dynamically changing workplace environment and KCIED is sponsoring this event to help local human resources and related professionals meet these challenges,” said Mary Jo Wallin-Orlowski, Director of Business Development for Knox County Indiana Economic Development, who is organizing the free event.
Lapekas will address expectations of active learning experiences, work flexibility, work-life balance, and more of younger workers as part of her interactive presentation. “There exist several misconceptions and false perceptions about younger workers,” she said. “Gen Z characteristics include a very practical approach and independence, while Millennials like to move forward in a collaborative environment.”
The key is recognizing differences in creative ways in order to positively motivate workers to excel and achieve mutual goals.
Smithville has elevated its network peering and increased system performance with the completion of a second 100-gigabit wave link between Chicago and Smithville devices in Indianapolis, according to Jason Dauby, Chief Technology Officer for Smithville.
“This enhanced capability adds to the first 100-gigabit link we established in 2017 and improves the internet connectivity experience for our commercial and residential customers,” Dauby said. “The dual connectivity improves Smithville’s capacity to peer directly with global networks, reducing latency and resolution times, and improves our already-high reliability by making Smithville less susceptible to outages of other providers.”
Smithville established connectivity between a major data center in Chicago and two data centers in Indianapolis, which are networked to Smithville’s more than 3,000 miles of fiber in Indiana. The expanded network builds upon Smithville’s 100-gigabit nodes in Bloomington, Columbus, Evansville, Jasper, and the WestGate@Crane Technology Park in Indiana. Smithville’s network includes high-capacity internet connectivity to the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette and internet service in Tipton County.
Conexus Manufacturing Readiness Grant (MRG) helps advance strategic equipment purchase to move 100-year-old facility toward Industry 4.0.
VINCENNES – A $2.5 million investment by Wabash Steel, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lenex Steel, will elevate both productivity and workforce capacity at its facility here, allowing the company to capitalize on a new IoT-driven high-tech blaster for complex steel cleaning and preparation. In partnership with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), Conexus Indiana provided a strategic catalyst for the new investment with the awarding of a $200,000 Manufacturing Readiness Grant (MRG) to support the equipment purchase, the first MRG made in Knox County Indiana.
Together with Vincennes University and other partners, Knox County Indiana Economic Development assisted and supported Wabash Steel in securing the MRG funding for the Knox County facility.
“This represents an investment in smart technology and introduces our operation to Industry 4.0, as it provides automated data allowing us to make smart decisions about its usage, maintenance, and throughput,” said Jason Turk, Executive Vice President of Operations for Wabash Steel. “The new equipment will be fully installed in 2025 and continue our positive momentum in the bridge industry renewing America’s infrastructure.”