Health

The Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital, together with Elliott Jewelers of Waukon, are excited to announce they will be hosting their 17th annual Women’s Health Day wellness event, which will now be back to a full “normal” event. It will be held Tuesday, September 27 at the Waukon Banquet Center. All ages are invited to attend any part of this educational event, beginning at 11 a.m. with a wellness fair offering a variety of free health tests and information, and a luncheon and program held from Noon to 1 p.m.

Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) staff and board members continue to visit each Allamakee County community to present and discuss the need to convert from a city-owned hospital to a county-owned hospital. The hospital turned in a petition with more than enough signatures to earn a spot on the ballot November 8 for voters to vote on this conversion in the upcoming general election.

Often individuals are informed at their annual physicals they may be overweight and are advised by their health care provider to try to drop a few pounds, but that is not as easy as it sounds. Many stop eating and go on a crash diet, only to regain the weight plus more since they have probably just slowed their metabolism by not fueling their body properly.

Bob Swenson of Waukon recently visited Dr. Schwartz in the Veterans Memorial Hospital Waukon Medical Clinic for his annual Medicare physical, and it was recommended that he lose 25 pounds to help improve his cholesterol numbers and overall health.

Veterans Memorial Hospital will sponsor a Babysitting Seminar Saturday, October 22. This class will be broken down into two different sessions to allow for better spacing of students. The morning session will be held from 9 a.m.-Noon and the afternoon session from 1-4 p.m. The same information will be taught at both sessions, so students can sign up for one session or the other. A total of 20 students will be taken in each session.

Both classes will be held in the Large Conference Room located on the lower level of Veterans Memorial Hospital. The entrance for the class will be the hospital shipping/receiving entrance located on the east side of the building near the MRI truck, across from the golf course. Signs will be posted indicating the location.

How many know how much blood is needed by certain patients? Here are some facts from the LifeServe Blood Center.

• Cancer patients can use up to eight units of blood a month.
• Bone Marrow Transplant patients can use up to two units a day.
• Cardiovascular Surgery patient can use between two and 25 units.
• Liver Transplant patients can use up to 100 units.
• Auto/Trauma Accident patients can use five to 100 units.
• Premature infants can use up to one to four units.
• Burn victims can use up to 20 units of platelets.
• Heart surgery patients can use up to three to eight units of red cells and one to 10 units of platelets.
• Organ transplant patients can use 10-30 units of blood.

October 5, Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care/Allamakee County Public Health will begin to offer their annual Flu Shot Clinics. The new COVID-19 vaccine booster for the variant strains will also be offered, as well as the primary (first and second doses) of the COVID-19 vaccine.

These walk-in clinics will begin Wednesday, October 5, from 9-11:30 a.m. in the ICN room located on the west side of the hospital, next to the Gundersen Clinic. Parking will be available right outside that entrance, marked with orange cones. Additional flu shot and COVID-19 vaccine clinics will follow at the same time each Wednesday including October 12, October 19, October 26, November 2 and November 9.

Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Be sure to wear a mask and bring and insurance card and vaccination card if coming for any of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) in Waukon will be offering Grandparenting classes again this fall. Corinne Cook, RN, Babysitting Class instructor, will teach the next Grandparenting Class scheduled for Saturday, October 1 from 9:30 a.m. until Noon. The class will be held in the hospital’s Large Conference Room. Signs will be posted.

In these classes, new or soon-to-be grandparents will learn all the new protocols to use when caring for their new grandchild. Some topics covered will include basic baby care, car seat safety, Tylenol/Ibuprofen dosing charts, home safety, poison control information, infant/child CPR, choking and other emergency medical information, as well as tips to support parents such as handling the baby blues and postpartum depression.  Free-will donations will be accepted to cover the costs of the class.

Veterans Memorial Hospital will hold a Prepared Childbirth Education class (formerly called Lamaze) Saturday, October 8 from 8 a.m. to Noon 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.  These Prepared Childbirth Education classes are available for a  small fee and are offered every three months at Veterans Memorial Hospital.

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

Memorials were recently received by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation in memory of Neil Becker by Linda Flatland, Randy and Lori Hover, Les and Ada Marie Kerndt, Dave and Laurie Martin, Chuck and Lois Votsmier and Diane Regan.

Memorials were also received in memory of Alton “Gene” Johnson by Mary Ann Hager, Gerald Pittmann and Danny and Sue Schlitter; and in memory of Marian Shafer by Bill and Beth Shafer, Linda Siegrist and Ed and Karen Stamper.

In addition, memorials were received for Cindy McDowell by John and Eileen Curtin, Jim and Jill Kiesau, Gwen Schroedel, Donelle Sherman, Virgil and Debbie Thorstenson and Chuck and Lois Votsmier.

A general donation to the Foundation was also received by David Schulte.

In addition to the public meetings scheduled throughout Allamakee County over the next several weeks to discuss Veterans Memorial Hospital’s proposed City to County conversion, Veterans Memorial Hospital will also be hosting a Facebook Live event that will be aired this Friday, September 16, starting at 12 Noon. Those interested in viewing are encouraged to visit the Veterans Memorial Hospital Facebook page to join the live event, or a recording of that presentation will also be available for viewing later on the hospital’s Facebook page.

Additional information is available on the hospital’s website at www.veteransmemorialhospital.com.