Many people start the year out by getting their annual physical.  If that sounds like you and you are on Drake’s health plan, don’t forget to take a copy of the Premium Discount–Annual Physical Form to your appointment. This form can be found on myDrake under the Employee Wellness section of Human Resources.

Those on Drake’s health plan who complete a physical with their PCP between Dec. 1, 2021 and Nov. 30, 2022 and submit a Premium Discount–Annual Physical Form by Dec. 2, 2022, will receive the wellness health insurance premium discount in 2023, which is a savings of approximately $30 per month. 

If you already had your physical since Dec. 1, 2021, please fill out the form and turn it in now.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Nominations for the Madelyn M. Levitt Distinguished Community Service and Employee Excellence Awards are due to Human Resources by Friday, March 4.

Madelyn M. Levitt established the Distinguished Community Service Award to recognize the outstanding contributions of Drake faculty and staff to the Drake community. The nominee must be a current faculty or staff member with at least five years of service at Drake.

The Employee Excellence Award is presented to a staff member who demonstrates exceptional commitment to excellence in the performance of their duties. The nominee must be a current staff member with at least one year of service at Drake.

To nominate a colleague, submit a letter of nomination to Human Resources. Nomination letters may be sent through campus mail or electronically to drakehr@drake.edu.  The letter should detail specific examples of how the nominee exemplifies each of the applicable criteria. Additional letters of support are not necessary.

For additional information, please contact Linda Feiden at linda.feiden@drake.edu.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

All Drake faculty and staff are invited and encouraged to nominate a colleague for the Madelyn M. Levitt Distinguished Community Service and Employee Excellence Awards.

Madelyn M. Levitt established the Distinguished Community Service Award to recognize the outstanding contributions of Drake faculty and staff to the Drake community. Recipients are chosen on the following criteria:

• A demonstrated personal commitment to volunteerism and community service
• An outstanding record of leadership or substantial involvement in community projects, services and activities contributing to the quality of life in our region, state and/or the nation
• Professional and personal values and behavior that typify the ideals of “giving back to others” and “making a difference in the lives of others”

The nominee must be a current faculty or staff member with at least five years of service at Drake.

The Employee Excellence Award is presented to a staff member who demonstrates exceptional commitment to excellence in the performance of their duties. Criteria for the award includes:

• Exceptional performance as an employee of Drake University
• Outstanding dedication to providing courteous, prompt and quality service
• Demonstrated commitment to University programs, initiatives, and services
• Professional values and behavior that demonstrate exceptional service to others and a commitment to Drake University

The nominee must be a current staff member with at least one year of service at Drake.

To nominate a colleague, submit a letter of nomination to Human Resources. Nomination letters may be sent through campus mail or electronically to drakehr@drake.edu.  The letter should detail specific examples of how the nominee exemplifies each of the applicable criteria. Additional letters of support are not necessary. Nominations are due to Human Resources by Friday, March 4.

For additional information, please contact Linda Feiden at linda.feiden@drake.edu.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Drake’s exciting new partnership with Broadlawns Medical Center took effect on Jan. 1, 2022. As a reminder, Drake health plan participants who choose Broadlawns providers for their care, will experience special pricing, including:

• no co-pays for urgent care/walk-in clinic visits
• no co-pays for primary care visits
• no co-pays for specialist visits
• a lower out-of-pocket maximum
• lower deductibles for emergency room visits, as well as for both outpatient and inpatient care

You can review the pricing in greater detail on page seven of Drake’s new digital benefits guide.

There are several Broadlawns providers who are currently accepting new patients, and we want to provide introductions to two of them who have existing ties to Drake:

Nick Galioto, MD, is already known to many at Drake. “Dr. G” has served as the primary care physician for Drake student athletes since 2006.  He also recently oversaw services for the Drake Student Health Center. Dr. Galioto serves as the director of the Transitional Year Residency Program, is the associate director of the Family Medicine Residency Program, and is the associate director of medical education at Broadlawns Medical Center. His clinical expertise goes beyond primary care medicine and includes  sports medicine, cardiovascular disease, and dermatology. He currently works out of the Broadlawns Family Health Center located at 1761 Hickman Road.

Julie Rice, tLMHC, is a mental health therapist who also has close ties to Drake. Julie Rice earned her master’s at Drake and served as  an intern at the Drake Student Counseling Center. Her clinical interests include cognitive behavioral therapy, rational emotive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy. Julie currently works out of the Broadlawns Outpatient Mental Health Clinic  also located at 1761 Hickman Road. You can read more about Julie Rice in this article, A Daily Dose of Self-Care, that was published in Des Moines Magazine in November.

If you have questions about the new Broadlawns partnership or would like to see other aspects of Broadlawns services featured in OnCampus, please reach out to drakehr@drake.edu.

— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources

All Drake faculty and staff are invited and encouraged to nominate a colleague for the Madelyn M. Levitt Distinguished Community Service and Employee Excellence Awards.

Madelyn M. Levitt established the Distinguished Community Service Award to recognize the outstanding contributions of Drake faculty and staff to the Drake community. Recipients are chosen on the following criteria:

• A demonstrated personal commitment to volunteerism and community service
• An outstanding record of leadership or substantial involvement in community projects, services and activities contributing to the quality of life in our region, state and/or the nation
• Professional and personal values and behavior that typify the ideals of “giving back to others” and “making a difference in the lives of others”

The nominee must be a current faculty or staff member with at least five years of service at Drake.

The Employee Excellence Award is presented to a staff member who demonstrates exceptional commitment to excellence in the performance of their duties. Criteria for the award includes:

• Exceptional performance as an employee of Drake University
• Outstanding dedication to providing courteous, prompt and quality service
• Demonstrated commitment to University programs, initiatives, and services
• Professional values and behavior that demonstrate exceptional service to others and a commitment to Drake University

The nominee must be a current staff member with at least one year of service at Drake.

To nominate a colleague, submit a letter of nomination to Human Resources. Nomination letters may be sent through campus mail or electronically to drakehr@drake.edu.  The letter should detail specific examples of how the nominee exemplifies each of the applicable criteria. Additional letters of support are not necessary. Nominations are due to Human Resources by Friday, March 4.

For additional information, please contact Linda Feiden at linda.feiden@drake.edu.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

For those faculty and staff who are interested in finding new ideas to boost your nutritional goals, there are a couple good options.

Samantha “Sam” Matt, MS, RDN, LDN, is Drake’s on campus dietitian and a wonderful resource.  Sam offers free one-on-one nutrition counseling for faculty and staff.  Nutrition topics include healthy eating, cooking/shopping tips, disease management, weight management, sports nutrition, food allergy management, and general health and wellness.  For more information, or to schedule an appointment, contact Sam at samantha.matt@sodexo.com.

In addition, Hy-Vee is hosting Wellness Wednesdays and a Virtual Freezer Prep event.

Wellness Wednesdays

Tune in virtually for a live complimentary wellness session over your lunch hour. Each week learn about hot trending nutrition topics and delicious foods and/or recipes to add to your routine. Register Here

• February 2nd- Heart Healthy Hummus
• February 9th- Heart Healthy Cooking Oils
• February 16th- Smoothie Boosters
• February 23rd- Dietitian’s Dessert

Virtual Freezer Meal Prep Workshop

Free up time in your week by prepping ahead in this virtual class. In under an hour, prepare 5 freezer meals to feed 4-6 people. Cost is $10. Register Here

• February Menu: Egg Burritos, Tomato Basil Cheese Tortellini, Balsamic Honey Pork Tenderloin with Pears, Maple Glazed Salmon, Mississippi Pot Roast
• March Menu: Ranch Pork Chops, Beef Stroganoff, Chicken Burrito Bowl, Lasagna Ravioli, Teriyaki Shrimp Stir-fry

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

February is American Heart Month—a great time to be reminded about the importance of practicing heart-healthy habits. Not-so-fun fact: Every 36 seconds in the U.S. someone dies from cardiovascular disease, and heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States.

Do you know your risks? Risk factors include smoking, inactivity, high blood pressure, obesity/overweight, high cholesterol, and family history of heart disease. Although you can’t fix family history, no matter your age, you can take simple steps to lower your risk for a heart attack or stroke.

Know your numbers. Get your annual physical and review your medical conditions with your primary care physician. This includes controlling your blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar levels and weight.

Choose healthy foods and beverages. Add some heart-healthy recipes into your day and reduce the amount of sodium, sugar, and bad fats from your diet.

Get moving. Regular physical activity is a must for all ages. It could be as simple as walking more and sitting less. And don’t forget to add some resistance training. Moving your body has benefits beyond a healthy heart. It can help reduce stress, keep your joints healthy and improve brain function.

If you smoke – QUIT.  There are a number of online resources to help you reach this goal.

In addition, if you are not vaccinated against COVID-19, the American Heart Association (AHA) joins Drake in encouraging you to do so!

“Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is especially important for heart and stroke patients because people with such underlying conditions are more likely to develop complications from the disease.” The AHA offers more details on the importance of vaccination and heart health here.

If you want to get started toward a healthier heart but don’t know where to begin, follow this 28-Days Toward a Healthy Heart chart.  These small steps could make a giant leap in your health!

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

The amazing group of employees who came together to help assess the future of flexible work for staff has been released of their task force service. While the updated existing policies, newly adopted policies, and supporting resources will be works in progress for the foreseeable future, the task force’s work is now officially complete.

In line with each one of our Core Values, Drake HR would like to thank each of the task force members for their:

• Joyful Accountability in being curious, creative, brave, and bold;
• Generosity of Spirit in approaching this work by presuming the very best in our talented and dedicated staff and with an eye always on equity and inclusion;
• Desire to be All In This Together—assuring the task force’s work was regularly communicated to campus with the highest levels of transparency and with opportunities for feedback and input; and
• 100% Commitment to Drake’s Mission in keeping our students first, while simultaneously acting with purpose and optimism in how we evolve and modernize our approach to workforce management.

As we have shared with campus previously, we are adopting a Customized Work Arrangement Policy to replace and supersede policies informing staff about telecommuting, flexible schedules, and summer hours. The CWA policy is now live and posted in the Policy Library. Since it is a brand-new policy, we will conduct a formal review of the policy after it has been in place for one year. Until then, we are accepting on-going feedback, suggestions, and questions. You can direct them to drakehr@drake.edu, please use the subject line: CWA Policy and let us know what you think. We still have a lot of learning to do and we will make improvements as we identify them.

Drake HR is creating a CWA page on its website that will house a variety of tools, templates, and resources relating to the CWA policy. A lot of time and effort has been put into them and we hope that investment of time is reflected in their usefulness to both staff and managers. If you are interested in exploring with your manager a CWA, we suggest you spend some time with these new resources as a next step.

If any managers or department would be interested in training for their areas, please let us know. We are happy to provide whatever assistance or training may be helpful.

Managers: separate communications will be coming your way in the coming weeks addressing how to help review and update essential functions of your direct reports and conduct eligibility assessments of existing positions—as these will be important initial steps to complete before approving any new CWA requests.

Once again, we thank the task force and also all staff who provided feedback, ideas, and suggestions throughout this journey. It’s not over, but it feels great to have covered this much distance already.

— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources

One of the interesting byproducts of COVID-19 has been a spike in remote work arrangements. As we have discussed in the past, hybrid working arrangements are likely here to stay. As we work on finalizing our new updated policies related to hybrid work, there’s a companion topic: out-of-state work.

COVID-19’s impact on the mobility of the workforce has prompted many states to review their state practices on income tax treatment of teleworking employees and the threshold requirements for employers to register as a business in their state.

Consequently, we are taking a fresh look at our existing Out-of-State Policy to assure it is clear, consistent, and adequately addresses the new landscape shaped by the COVID experience.

It is important to note that each state has different requirements for employers conducting business within their borders. A separate set of state income tax laws impact employees conducting business in any given state. This policy is designed to appropriately manage risk associated with both of these topics.

Fun Fact: As of January, 2022, Drake is conducting business in several states where we anticipate an on-going need for active registration. These include: Iowa (naturally), Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Colorado, Texas, and Vermont. There are additional states where we have temporary registration based on short-term needs, but we do not intend to continue active registration. Most states require annual registration—so this list regularly expands and shrinks over time.

However, it’s more complex than that. If we are not currently registered to conduct business in a state, we also have to review the state’s unique labor and employment laws. There could be different forms of paid leave, a state (or municipal) minimum wage, workers’ compensation, etc. If we are going to have employees in another state working on Drake’s behalf, we want to do so lawfully and ethically and this doesn’t happen without time, care, and effort.

The updated policy is now posted for public comment, and it addresses both situations where Drake may be interested in hiring a new employee who will remain out-of-state and situations where an existing employee may want to temporarily or permanently relocate out-of-state. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please share them. This will help inform final edits.

Please be sure to read next week’s OnCampus for an update on the Customized Work Arrangements policy and related policies that have also been under review.

— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources; Heather Travis, Controller

Drake HR is happy to share with you a message from our new partners at Broadlawns Medical Center:

Broadlawns Medical Center is so pleased to become your Tier 1 healthcare partners in 2022! We’re committed to providing exceptional, personalized care that keeps you healthy and feeling your best. We offer a broad range of services to meet your healthcare needs, including:

• Primary Care
• Urgent Care (Three locations—check the wait times on our homepage)
• Mental Health Care, including a Psychiatric Urgent Care
• Pediatric Care
• Virtual Care
• Surgical Care
• Specialty Care
• Inpatient Care

You can view a complete list of offerings on our Clinics and Services page.

Here are a few resources to assist you as you familiarize yourself with Broadlawns Medical Center:

• Find A Provider/Service: You can find a provider, specialty, or service on our website using our Find A Doctor
• Maps and Directions: You can find directions and maps for each of our locations on our Maps and Directions webpage.
• Patient Portal: Once you have established care, be sure to enroll in our Patient Portal. Our Patient Portal allows you to view and monitor your health information, request appointments, securely message your provider… and so much more!
• Broadlawns Pharmacy: Our pharmacy is conveniently located on our main campus so you can stop by after your appointment. You can request refills with ease and message your pharmacist using our Pharmacy App.

• Questions About Broadlawns Services: If you have any questions regarding Broadlawns services, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us via our Contact Us page.
• Questions About Coverage: If you have questions regarding your insurance coverage, please reach out to Wellmark.

If you haven’t seen Broadlawns lately…

Here are some of the exciting things that have happened in recent years:

• March 2016: Completion of our newly renovated 30-bed inpatient Behavioral Health Unit.
• November 2016: Opening of Broadlawns East University Clinic.
• March 2017: Opening of Broadlawns Medical Plaza, which houses our Family Health Center, Geriatric & Memory Clinic, Outpatient Mental Health, Dental Clinic, and Pain Management Center.
• November 2017: Completion of our 14-bed expansion for Inpatient Behavioral Health focusing on major depression.
• June 2018: Psychiatric Urgent Care opens (The first in the State of Iowa).
• October 2019: Completion of the Oncology & Hematology Center renovation. Check out the photos of the new clinic.
• August 2020: A new 42,000 sq ft hospital floor was added to our Sands building that includes a Birthing Center, Med/Surg and ICU unit. See photos of the new Birthing Center.
• October 2020: New Connections addiction center opens in newly constructed space within the Broadlawns Medical Plaza.
• February 2021: A brand new lab with state-of-the-art facilities.
• COMING SOON: Broadlawns Surgery Department is doubling in size with new OR suites, Endoscopy suites, robotics, pre and post-operative patient suites.
• Keep up to date with the latest happenings at Broadlawns by following us on social media: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter.

We look forward to getting to know you and your families and attending to your healthcare needs.

Warmly,

The Staff at Broadlawns Medical Center

Together A Healthy Community.