Health

During the winter months, blood donations are especially needed to help prevent a critical blood shortage. Local hospital patients rely on life-saving blood donations from volunteer blood donors. Help is needed to guarantee an adequate blood supply is available at all times.

The next LifeServe Blood Center blood drive will be held Monday, December 6 from 12-5 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in south Waukon. Blood drives are held monthly in Waukon to allow for more donors to give. The LifeServe Blood Center supplies Veterans Memorial Hospital with their blood and blood products. Here are some interesting blood facts from the LifeServe Blood Center:

Veterans Memorial Hospital will hold a Prepared Childbirth Education class (formerly called Lamaze) Saturday, December 18, from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the Large Conference Room.

The Prepared Childbirth Education classes at Veterans Memorial Hospital are offered in one half-day session. Tours of the OB Department are available with these sessions as well. There is a small fee per session for the Prepared Childbirth Education classes that are offered every three months at Veterans Memorial Hospital.

Preregistration is necessary, as seats are limited. To register, email childbirth@vmhospital.com or contact Jayne McCormick, RN, Nursing and OB Manger at Veterans Memorial Hospital at 563-568-3411.

Memorials were recently received by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation in memory of Shirley Elliott by Dave and Karen Mathis, Cindy Barness, Angeline Schulte, Chuck and Lois Votsmier, Ron and Nancy Brandt, Mary Ann Hager, Thomas and Judy Kemp, and Pat Pettingill.

Memorials were also received in memory of Eleanor O’Neill by Jerry and Linda Siegrist, Sandra Williams, Mary Axmear, Kay Carter, Kathy Clark, Nan Grangaard, Jim and Jill Kiesau, Roger and Rita Ludwig, Dave and Laurie Martin, Dale and Rita Mathis, Don and Connie Nagel, Sigurd and Barb Ness, Diane Regan, Gary and Janis Schulte, Larry and Nancy Straate, Terry and Laurie Welch, Barb White, and Chuck and Lois Votsmier.

In addition, the Foundation received memorial donations from Albin Massman in memory of Verna Massman, by Jeff Moe and Mary Ann Hager in memory of Dominick Damiano, and by Carol Paus and Richard and Sue Schulte in memory of Willard Meyer.

by Jill Fleming, MS, RD/LD, Veterans Memorial Hospital

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month.  I encourage anyone with diabetes to eat more fiber! Dietary fiber is probably best known for its ability to prevent or relieve constipation, but foods containing fiber can provide many health benefits. Fiber helps with weight loss, lowers your blood sugar numbers, prevents heart disease and some types of cancer.

What is dietary fiber?
Dietary fiber, also known as roughage or bulk, includes the parts of plant foods your body can’t digest or absorb. Unlike other food components, such as fats, proteins or carbohydrates, which your body breaks down and absorbs, fiber isn’t digested by your body. Instead, it passes relatively intact through your stomach, small intestine and colon before exiting your body.

Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care/Allamakee Public Health is again restocked with COVID-19 booster immunizations and will again be holding another walk-in COVID-19 immunization clinic for those meeting the requirements outlined below. Vaccinations for ages 5-11 years of age will not take place at this time. See information later in this article for future youth clinics.

A walk-in clinic for Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine as well as flu vaccine will be held Thursday, November 18, from 7:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. (or until supply runs out). At this time people can receive their first, second or boost dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Moderna and flu vaccine will be given in the lower level of the hospital (along the golf course side). Pfizer and flu vaccine will be given in the Meditation room in the main entrance of the hospital. Please wear a mask and bring your vaccination card as well as any insurance cards you may have.

Memorials were recently received by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation in memory of Charles Andregg by Mary Ann Hager, Lollie Hirth, Chuck and Lois Votsmier, and Mary Ann Andregg; in memory of Mark Miller by Dr. David and Suzanne Hahn, Eric and Stephanie Palmer, Lollie Hirth and the Gundersen Health System; in memory of Ann Haney by Ernie and Donnalee Osland; in memory of Keith Schroeder by Patsy Kerndt and Chuck and Lois Votsmier; and in memory of Theresa McCormick and her daughters Julie Christensen and Lora Frana by Jim and Karen McCormick.

Memorials were also received in memory of Evelyn Burke by Mavis Berns, Dan and Sue Cahoon, William and Ella Collins, Michael and Heather Hanson, Daniel O’Meara and the O’Meara Family, Clinton and McKayla Rethamel and Gary and Janis Schulte.

Veterans Memorial Hospital will be offering the next recertification course in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for health care providers (those working in health related fields such as physicians, nurses, EMS, etc.) Thursday, December 2, beginning at 5 p.m. This “Health Care Professional” CPR class will be held in the Large Conference Room located on the lower level of the hospital.

There is a small fee to attend this class and all registrants should bring along their own pocket mask, if they have one. Upon successful completion of the class, the participant will receive an electronic card certifying them as a BLS Healthcare Provider for a two-year period.

Pre-registration plus a minimum of three participants is required for the class to be held. All participants will be required to physically distance during the class and wear a mask. They will also be screened at the hospital main entrance when they enter the building.

by Angie Mettille, RN, BSN, CDCES

Diabetes, especially Type 2, is a diagnosis becoming exponentially more common in northeast Iowa and across the country. There are many tools to treat Type 2 Diabetes such as medications, exercise and nutrition, but the most powerful and useful tool is knowledge. Knowledge doesn’t need to be refrigerated, and never expires. Educating our patients on ways they can control their blood sugars provides them with the tools they will need to live safely and in the healthiest way possible.

Reservations are being taken now for the drive-through meals served at Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation’s  30th Annual Christmas Fantasy. The event this year will be held Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, November 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22, at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds Pavilion in Waukon. The theme is “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” which is fitting for an outdoor Fantasy.

A drive-through of lighted displays will be out in front of the Allamakee County Fairgrounds Pavilion for anyone wanting to drive-through or walk-through evenings during the event. The grounds will be open from 5-9 p.m. Thursday through Sunday nights and from 4-7 p.m. Monday night. The format of the event was changed again this year to keep the event COVID-safe.

Congratulations to the numerous students who completed the recent Veterans Memorial Hospital Babysitting classes Saturday, October 23. The classes were instructed by Corinne Cook, RN, and consisted of teaching the qualities of being a good babysitter including basic child care, accident prevention and first aid. These new babysitters learned CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) and the Heimlach Maneuver thanks to many hospital staff members who taught the Baby Shark Hands Only CPR program.

The students who completed the Veterans Memorial Hospital Baby-sitting morning seminar included Evelynn Dibert, Adalyn Olson, Layla Mathis, Haylee Jeglum, Hannah Jeglum, Cael Lloyd, Maddie Baxter, Miley Baxter, Kennedy McCormick, Bently Jones, Jace Thorson, Hailey Cook, Isabella Koenig, Dakota Van Gundy, Kara Helgerson, Maddie Mauss, Norah Palmer and Naomi Palmer.