News Center newsletter

Veterans Memorial Hospital is an official sponsor for the Senior Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP), a service of the State of Iowa Insurance Division. SHIIP provides free-of-charge counseling and information to people with questions about Medicare, Medicare supplement insurance, long term care insurance, and claims filings. SHIIP can help solve problems like these:

• An Iowa woman held three long-term care policies, two Medicare supplement policies and five other health insurance policies of limited coverage. SHIIP reviewed the policies, pointing out duplication. As a result, she canceled several policies and saved $4,431 in insurance premiums annually.

• A northeast Iowa senior had 160 envelopes containing medical bills, Medicare statements and insurance statements. A SHIIP volunteer spent 26.5 hours sorting through the papers, organizing, and explaining to the client the status of each claim.

Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon is currently transitioning to a new electronic medical record system. This new system will now link to all departments, encompassing all areas of the hospital, including the billing department.

Because this is a new system, the hospital is requiring that every patient bring their health insurance card along with them so the information can be entered into this new system. Even patients who recently visited Veterans Memorial Hospital will need to show their insurance card to the hospital receptionist, even if they just recently did so.

Curt and Jan Brandsmeier of Waukon will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Curt Brandsmeier and Janice (Jan) Halverson were married March 18, 1967 in Lansing.

They are the parents of Kristine (Jeff) Butterbaugh of Mount Vernon and Brian (Sara) Brandsmeier of North Liberty. Grandchildren include Camden (16) and Rylan (14) Butterbaugh of Mount Vernon, and Axel (5) and Lumen (3) Brandsmeier of North Liberty.

In honor of the occasion, cards may be sent to 608 Seventh Street SW, Waukon, IA 52172. The couple requests no gifts.
 

Megan Stewart and Danny Pfiffner of Marion wish to announce their engagement and wedding. The couple exchanged vows in Cancun, Mexico February 25, 2017. A reception is planned at the Waukon Banquet Center for this Saturday, March 18 with a dance to follow.

The bride is the granddaughter of Lowell Stewart and the late Kathleen Stewart of Harpers Ferry. She is a 2011 Waukon High School graduate and a December 2016 graduate of UNI with a teaching degree.

The groom’s parents are Tom and Rita Pfiffner of Waukon. He is a 2011 graduate of Waukon High School and a graduate of Northwest Iowa Community College (NCC) in Sheldon with a degree as a Lineman. He is currently employed as a Lineman with Alliant Energy in Cedar Rapids.

The couple resides in Marion.
 

Ross and Vanessa Ellefson of Harpers Ferry announce the birth of their daughter, Ava Catherine Ellefson, born March 2, 2017 at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. She weighed 8 lbs. 1 oz. and measured 20 inches in length at the time of her birth.

Grandparents are Keith and Patrice Schulte of Waukon and Roger and Lynn Ellefson of Waterville.
 

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that when I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes nearly 20 years ago, and brought home a list of dietary restrictions, my mother, in her mid-70s, said if I had to eat like that, I would have to do the cooking, since she was too old to learn to cook all over again.
And so, I became the chief cook for the two of us.

She ate what I prepared, but she would make comments, such as “nothing wrong with it that a little salt wouldn’t cure.” Or maybe, “it’s better with a cream sauce.” In fact, sometimes she would set aside a portion of something (peas, cauliflower) and make a cream sauce for her portion.

At any rate, when she died 15 years ago, I was pretty much used to doing the cooking, so only had to adjust to one instead of two.

It is not easy to cook for one. But with the ability to freeze unused portions of most things for another day, I get by with ham chunks and turkey breasts with bone attached.

Proverbs 18:24 …a true friend sticks closer than one’s nearest kin.

Have you noticed the different kinds of people who come into our lives? Some people come into our life for a reason. Doctors, nurses and other health professionals wait upon our every need when we are in the hospital for an illness or disease. Patrolmen, lawyers, and people in the court system help us through a difficult time in our lives. Waitresses, clerks and other store personnel help us find what we need. These people come into our lives for a specific reason, to help, to give advice, to serve.

To the Editor:

Mr. Quandahl is living in a world of  wrong facts, according to his latest letter. His president lost the popular vote by almost three million votes, not a landslide victory.

He expects you to trust what he says to be the gospel truth, but let me tell you he is a long way off from the gospel and uses Christians  and Evangelical values and morals as his passport to another world. Whether a man or woman, it’s hard to believe that someone believes that he or she is pure and has morals and is working their way to heaven but still votes for an alleged lifetime sexual  predator, a lifetime liar who is reported to be tied in with Russia and Putin, and who has a cabinet member who reportedly launders money for Russia.

But neither Mr. Quandahl, nor Kristi Hager, nor one-time Republican candidate Lowell Engle will ever mention these facts, which are true. Go ahead and check, but I think you also were duped.

To the Editor:

Following the passing of Dan Otting this past week I have felt moved to write to you to express the sadness felt by a number of people here in the UK (United Kingdom). I have been a close friend of Brother Leo Jones and Mary Anne, Dan and the family since 1983 when I first visited Waukon.

In 2001 I brought a group of high school students to the U.S. from England and part of the itinerary was a two-day visit to Waukon where we stayed with Dan and Mary Anne. For the students, this was by far the most memorable aspect of their whole American experience. The hospitality we received was second to none.

Dan always enjoyed hosting international students and my last visit was for Thanksgiving in 2013 when I came with a student from Beirut and one from Palestine and we shared a wonderful few days in Waukon. They remember the stories that Dan told late into the night about the characters and events over the years in Waukon.

To the Editor:

I would like to thank Mr. Ward for his wonderful fake writing skills as it appears he has obtained his information from the fake news, as he likes to refer to it.

I plan on showing in this letter how Mr. Ward’s letter writing is fake, like the fake news. How to get started? Might as well start with Mr. Trump being accused as a serial sexual abuser, as Mr. Ward claims. Where in heavens did he come up with this accusation? I know; the fake news. I got on the computer and Googled if Donald Trump was a serial sexual abuser, and to my surprise sites started to pop up. Which one to choose? I scrolled down to where it stated, “Trump Civil Child Rape, Sexual Abuse & C. “Filed” SDNY Fed’l CT 1:16-CV-04642 6-20-16.” What a shock! Maybe Mr. Ward was right after all.