Health

May 6-12 is National Nurse’s Week. The nursing staff at Veterans Memorial Hospital is all state licensed professionals with specialized training in advanced cardiac life support, pediatric advanced life support, trauma nurse core curriculum, and neonatal resuscitation provider course. They are committed to providing optimal care of patients and their loved ones by creating the best healthcare experience when caring for their friends and neighbors.

There are many levels of care offered by the hospital’s nursing staff including inpatient acute, skilled, observation, monitored cardiac, respite/courtesy care, surgical, home health, hospice and outpatient infusion therapy. These various levels are observed throughout the many nursing departments such as Surgery, Maternity Services, Emergency, Inpatient, Outpatient and Cardiac/Pulmonary.

A generous donation of $5,000 was recently received by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation from Croell Redi-Mix in support of the new Waukon Medical Clinic. The renovations to the clinic are now complete and the clinic is open for appointments. Pictured above, left to right, at the Croell Redi-Mix plant in Waukon are Bill Blake, Tanner Hartema and Luke Howard, all representing Croell, with Craig Lensing, Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation Director. Appointments are now being scheduled by calling the new clinic phone number of 563-568-5530. Donations are still being accepted by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation. All gifts to the Foundation are tax deductible. Submitted photo.

COVID Walk-In Vaccination Primary/First Dose Schedule for Allamakee County: Allamakee County Public Health is holding weekly vaccination clinics Friday afternoons for both prime and boost doses for Moderna. Currently, Johnson and Johnson one dose vaccine is also available. These clinics are held at the main entrance to Veterans Memorial Hospital. Call 563-568-5660 to schedule.

The COVID Vaccination Booster/Second Dose Schedule at Veterans Memorial Hospital is as follows:

5/13/21 - Booster (second) doses for all those who received the Moderna primary (first) immunization 4/15/21, from 8-10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.

5/24/21 - Booster (second) doses for all those that received the Moderna primary (first) immunization at the walk-in clinic in Lansing at Immaculate Conception Church basement April 26. Boosters will be given May 24 from 9 a.m.- Noon at the same location.

The next LifeServe Blood Center blood drive will be held Thursday, May 6, from 12 - 5 p.m. at the First Baptist Church located in south Waukon. Blood drives are held once a month in Waukon, to allow for more donors to give. The LifeServe Blood Center supplies Veterans Memorial Hospital with its blood and blood products.

Blood centers across the United States see a decrease in blood donations during the busy summer months. During the summer, people become more active, have busier schedules, spend more time outdoors and take vacations. While donations decline, hospitals actually see an increase in the need for blood. More driving during the summer months can mean more automobile accidents. A person who has suffered severe injuries from an automobile accident can need up to 50 units of blood.

The new Veterans Memorial Hospital Waukon Clinic received a very generous donation of $50,000 from the Alice Hermeier Foundation.  This donation will be used for telehealth technology and behavioral health services. Dr. Richard (Rick) Hermeier of Waukon established the Alice Hermeier Foundation in memory of his sister.

“This gift is a way to give back to the community that my family grew up in and that contributed immensely to my own personal success,” stated Dr. Hermeier. As a retired child psychologist, Dr. Hermeier defined the goal of this gift as to improve the mental health of the Waukon community and surrounding area. Adding behavioral health services to this clinic meets that goal.

Allamakee County Public Health officials has announced they are now offering the COVID vaccine to anyone age 18 and over. These vaccines will now be offered at walk-in clinics only and will be administering the Moderna vaccine.  The online sign-up previously used to schedule vaccination appointments will be discontinued; however, anyone on that list will be contacted for an appointment for a vaccine.

The COVID Walk-In Vaccination Primary/First Dose Schedule for Allamakee County is as follows:

Allamakee County Public Health weekly clinics for both prime and booster doses are held at Veterans Memorial Hospital. Call 563-568-5660 to schedule.

Monday, May 3: Walk-In Vaccination Clinic in Postville, 4:30-7 p.m., at the Northeast Iowa Wellness Center. No appointments for anyone age 18 and over. The booster clinic for these vaccinations only will be held Tuesday, June 1 from 4-7:30 p.m.

The Rehabilitation Department at Veterans Memorial Hospital is providing Astym treatment technique for patients who have experienced a traumatic or overuse injury resulting in chronic pain, weakness and limited motion. Astym is an evidence-based treatment technique developed by physicians and therapists at Ball Memorial Hospital, Ball State University, Purdue University and Central Indiana Orthopedics and Sports Medicine.

Tami Gebel, Occupational Therapist at Veterans Memorial Hospital, is certified to perform Astym treatments on individuals who have experienced an injury in the past and had minimal success at getting rid of the pain, had a lingering achiness, weakness or limited ability to complete daily activities and sports.

The need for blood does has not stopped during COVID-19 and is in even higher demand, so the local blood drives continue to be held. LifeServe team members only report to work if they are healthy and only healthy donors are eligible to give blood.

Blood drives are essential medical services and not considered mass gatherings. The number of donors is limited to ensure donor separation, and staff has strict cleaning and disinfection schedules. Other measures are also in place to ensure the safety of the blood supply so these lifesaving donations can continue during COVID-19.

The next blood drive will be held Thursday, May 6 from Noon to 5 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Waukon.

Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon will be opening the new Waukon Clinic Monday, May 3. Those wishing to make an appointment are invited to call the new clinic number of 563-568-5530 to schedule an appointment for May or beyond.

Dr. Dave Schwartz will be the medical physician provider in this new clinic. He has been serving this community since 1995 and will continue by seeing patients in the new Waukon clinic while also continuing to provide care at Veterans Memorial Hospital, especially in one of his favorite departments, Maternity Services.

by Tami Gebel, Occupational Therapist,
Veterans Memorial Hospital

April is National Occupational Therapy Month. Occupational therapists work in outpatient clinics to assist people in recovery from work-related injuries. Many times careless mistakes lead to injuries. Other times injuries occur due to an obscure accident or just repetition of the same movement over and over.

However an injury occurs, it often leads to pain, time off from work, a change in work duties, and inability to complete all activities (even non-work related activities). Employers do not like work-related injuries because they cause a loss in wages, production and manpower.