Month: April 2017

Piper East Elementary holds Fitness Frenzy Night

Fourth grader Rylie Wiseman got into her Zumba moves during the Fitness Frenzy Night at Piper Elementary School in Kansas City, Kansas. The event was part of Every Kid Healthy Week and a grant from Action for Healthy Kids and ALDI. (Photo by Dave Kaup, Feature Photo Service)

Fourth grader Rylie Wiseman and others did push-ups during the Cardio Fit session of the Every Kid Healthy Week Fitness Frenzy Night at Piper Elementary School in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Dave Kaup, Feature Photo Service)

In celebration of Every Kid Healthy Week (April 24-28), Piper East Elementary School held a Fitness Frenzy Night earlier this week with teachers, staff, students and community volunteers to celebrate the school’s wellness achievements and promote the link between healthy eating, physical activity and academic success. The event features four 30-minute exercise sessions for families taught by certified instructors, along with healthy smoothies and snacks.

Launched by Action for Healthy Kids (AFHK) in 2013, Every Kid Healthy Week is an annual observance held the last week of April that shines a spotlight on the great efforts schools are doing to improve the health and wellness of their students and provides an opportunity for everyone in the country to get involved in the celebration by supporting sound nutrition, regular physical activity and health-promoting programs in schools. The week is recognized on the calendar of National Health Observances.

Kansas agency working to speed federal inspections of Osawatomie State Hospital

by Jim McLean, Kansas News Service

The head of the Kansas agency that oversees the state’s hospital system is working to jump-start the process of recertifying Osawatomie State Hospital.

Federal officials decertified the state’s largest psychiatric hospital in December 2015 due to concerns about patient safety and staffing.

The decertification order is costing the hospital approximately $1 million a month in federal funding.

Staffing adjustments and renovations completed in August 2016 to a unit housing 60 of the hospital’s 206 patient beds have corrected the problems, said Tim Keck, secretary of the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services.

But federal surveyors have yet to conduct the first of two required inspections for recertification. So, in an attempt to jump-start the process, Keck recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

“I have had a couple of meetings with CMS over the last few weeks, and we believe they’ll be out sooner rather than later,” Keck said Wednesday after updating members of a legislative committee charged with overseeing KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program.

“I have had a couple of meetings with CMS over the last few weeks, and we believe they’ll be out sooner rather than later.”

Based on his discussions with CMS officials, Keck said he believes federal surveyors will conduct the first inspection sometime in the next month to determine whether the state has adequately addressed the deficiencies that led to the decertification. Several weeks later, he said, the hospital must also score well on a “full survey” to be eligible for recertification.

To keep the process moving, Keck said he hopes CMS will allow the second survey to be done by The Joint Commission, an independent hospital accrediting organization.

“We’ll have to make an application for that, but we’re working with our consultant to get all that worked out,” he said.

The budget proposed by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback included an $11.6 million cut in Osawatomie’s funding for the fiscal year that starts July 1. Many lawmakers are opposed to the proposed cut but are not sure they can prevent it given projected revenue shortfalls approaching $1 billion in the next two budget years.

Jim McLean is managing director of the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio and KMUW covering health, education and politics in Kansas. You can reach him on Twitter @jmcleanks. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to kcur.org.

See more at http://kcur.org/post/kansas-agency-working-speed-federal-inspections-osawatomie-state-hospital.

Sporting KC visits Dallas Saturday

The two remaining unbeaten teams in Major League Soccer square off Saturday when Sporting Kansas City (3-0-3, 12 points) visits FC Dallas (3-0-2) at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.

The Western Conference clash headlines the Week 8 slate in MLS, kicking off at 7 p.m. with three hours of live television coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. on FOX Sports Kansas City Plus.

Viewers who receive the primary FOX Sports Kansas City channel in their cable package will also be able to watch Saturday’s match live on the FOX Sports GO app. Additional live updates will be provided on the Sporting KC Uphoria app, while listeners can follow the action on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish). In addition, The Final Whistle: Sporting KC Postgame Show will air immediately after the game on 810 WHB.

Sporting Kansas City and FC Dallas have used stingy defenses to climb to second and third in the early Western Conference standings, respectively. Led by manager Peter Vermes, Sporting KC has posted a league-best four shutouts to remain undefeated through six games for just the third time in club history. Further south, head coach Oscar Pareja shows no signs of slowing down with an FC Dallas side that has reached 60 points in each of the last two regular seasons.

A gritty 1-0 road win over the Portland Timbers last Saturday saw three Sporting Kansas City players earn MLS Team of the Week honors.

Goalkeeper Tim Melia stunned spectators with a sprawling save to deny Darlington Nagbe, lowering his goals against average to an MLS-best 0.33 in the process, while center back Ike Opara and holding midfielder ilie delivered sterling performances to keep a potent Portland attack at bay. The result gave Sporting KC its fourth consecutive road clean sheet in the regular season, tying an all-time club record.

While impregnable defensively, Sporting Kansas City has also kicked its offense into gear since the turn of the month. Forward Dom Dwyer has two goals in as many games and will look to improve upon an impressive scoring record against FC Dallas: he has seven goals in his last seven appearances against the side in all competitions.

FC Dallas is coming off an ultimately frustrating 1-1 draw with the San Jose Earthquakes last Friday at Avaya Stadium. Pareja’s team surged ahead behind Kellyn Acosta’s strike in the 78th minute, but a last-gasp equalizer from Jahmir Hyka left the visitors with just a point. They now return to the friendly confines of Toyota Stadium, where they have lost just once in their last 24 regular season games.

A busy start to 2017 required FC Dallas to juggle the MLS regular season and the CONCACAF Champions League, where they advanced to the semifinals before narrowly falling to Pachuca. The Mexican outfit overturned a 2-1 deficit with a 3-1 home win on April 4 to eliminate their MLS counterparts.

CONCACAF heartbreak aside, FC Dallas has remained tough to beat in domestic competition.

The club is 5-0-5 in its last 10 regular season matches dating back to last season, notching five clean sheets during the stretch. Matt Hedges and Walker Zimmerman form one of the best center back partnerships in MLS, as FC Dallas has allowed just 0.9 goals per game when the duo start together since the beginning of 2016. Further up the field, central midfielder Acosta has exploded for five goals in all competitions after netting just twice last year.

The teams last met on March 11, battling to a scoreless draw in Sporting KC’s home opener at Children’s Mercy Park. The hosts enjoyed 69 percent possession and outshot FC Dallas 14-6, but were unable to breach an organized backline anchored by captain Hedges. Sporting KC owns a narrow 23-21-12 advantage in the series but is winless in its last four visits to Toyota Stadium.

Both clubs have just one name on their injury reports – a pair of long-term absentees who suffered serious setbacks last October. Sporting KC forward Diego Rubio remains sidelined as he continues to undergo rehabilitation on his ACL, while FC Dallas’ midfield talisman Mauro Diaz is recovering from a ruptured Achilles.

– Story from Sporting KC