Heartland Symposium

NURSING CE IS PENDING APPROVAL 

Participant Registration: https://heartlandcenter.regfox.com/heartland-symposium-2026

Vendor Registration: https://heartlandcenter.regfox.com/heartland-symposium-vendor-2026

Schedule: 

7:15: Registration Opens

7:30: Breakfast and Exhibits Open

7:50: Opening Announcements

8:00: Non-Traditional Therapies For The Work Comp Patient: Curtis Witt and Greg Schroeder – Athletico

• This session will discuss non-traditional therapies, such as dry- needling and Shockwave, both have been proven to be an effective treatment in helping injured workers return to work. The truths and the myths will be discussed.

9:00: Break and Exhibits

9:30: Critical Incident Stress Debriefing: Dr. Jim Coyle, GriefCare Specialist, Cedar Memorial

• Whether you have a workplace violence incident, a workplace fatality, or another type of traumatic event in your workplace, it is important that employees have an opportunity to debrief and grieve. This session will talk about the elements of trauma and give tools to manage crisis care with the importance of self-care in the workplace.

10:35: MTBI and Return to Work– Maranda Bear, On with Life

• More to come on this session.

11:35: Lunch and Exhibits

12:30: Return to Work with Chronic Health Conditions– VA Medical Center. More to come on this session

1:35: AI Shifting Adoption to Affirmation: From “Can We?” to “Should We?” In Occupational Health and Safety: Dan Tuuri, True North Companies

• This session reframes the conversation from unchecked adoption to intentional affirmation. Instead of asking only “Can we use AI for this task?” participants will explore “Should we use AI here, and under what conditions?” Using practical examples from occupational safety contexts, the session will introduce accessible frameworks to evaluate ethical considerations, risk, and impact, helping safety leaders align AI use with organizational values, regulatory expectations, and worker well-being.

2:35: Breaks and Exhibits

3:00: Ask the Doc Discussion: Dr. Patrick Hartley and Dr. Jeff Westpheling

• Always the most popular session of the day and we save the best for last! Get your hard questions ready for the experts! This is your opportunity to ask those lingering questions. If you wish your questions to be anonymous, you may send questions prior to the conference to tammi-goerdt@uiowa.edu.

4:00: Adjourn