Health

Elliott Jewelers of Waukon has made a very generous donation to the renovation of the new Veterans Memorial Hospital Waukon Clinic. Owners, John and Shelly Elliott, pictured above inside their store in downtown Waukon, have personally pledged $10,000 in support of this clinic project.

Appointments are now being scheduled at the new Waukon Clinic which will open Monday, May 3. Those interested in setting an appointment with one of the clinic providers for a date in May or beyond are invited to call the new clinic phone number at 563-568-5530 to schedule. Donations are still being accepted by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation. All gifts to the Foundation are tax deductible. Anyone with any questions about the campaign or Foundation is invited to call the hospital at 563-568-3411. Submitted photo.

Congratulations to the numerous students who completed the recent Veterans Memorial Hospital Babysitting classes Saturday, April 10. The classes were instructed by Corinne Cook, RN, assisted by Kim Gossling, RN, and consisted of teaching the qualities of 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 hospital staff members Kelly Baxter, Laura Baxter, Elizabeth Hoins and Mary Jo Meyer, who taught the Baby Shark Hands Only CPR program. Police Chief Paul Wagner from the Waukon Police Department also attended and discussed personal safety. Chris Dahlstrom from the Fire Department instructed the students on fire safety.

The LifeServe Blood Center reported a great number of donors at the April blood drive with 45 total units collected. In addition, there were five first-time donors who attended.

The local blood drives continue to be held during COVID-19 since the need for blood does not stop. Life Serve 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.

Memorials were recently received by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation in memory of Nyles Herman by Dwight Bacon, Don and Joyce Bakke, John and Marian Bauercamper, Mary Ann Burke, Jeff and Pam Christianson, Robert and Karen Fossum, Nan Grangaard, Earl and Bev Haas, Marlene Habhab, Patsy Kerndt, Jim and Jill Kiesau, Bev Krambeer, Joyce Kuhse, Lillian Larson, Jim and Bev Larson-Needham, Lyle and Cindy Leikvold, Sigurd and Barb Ness, Norbert and Nola Palmer, Vicky Phipps, Dave and Gail Prestemon, Linda Thompson, Waukon State Bank, Betty White, Arlen and Karlene Wonderlich and Brad and Erin Berns.

Memorials and donations are greatly appreciated by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation. The Foundation is a 501C3 organization. All donations to the Foundation are tax deductible. Memorials and donations can be sent to 40 First Street SE, Waukon, IA  52172.
 

April 18-24 is National Laboratory Week. The Veterans Memorial Hospital Lab continues to offer community wellness testing at a low upfront cost. Veterans Memorial Hospital offers this service to help accommodate individuals that may forgo these important tests due to the cost of high health insurance premiums and deductibles. Individuals can select from a menu of wellness tests during select hours. While these tests do not take the place of regular medical care, they are a tool for patients to monitor their own health and wellness.

Anyone can call the Lab to set up an appointment. Appointments are available between the hours of 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday - Friday. A physician’s order is not required for these tests. Results are then mailed to the individual within five business days.

A donation of $10,000 was recently received from Waukon State Bank in support of the current renovations to the Veterans Memorial Hospital clinic building which will open May 3. Pictured, left to right, at the clinic registration desk are Dave Martin, Hospital Maintenance and Project Supervisor; Laura Baxter, RN, Clinic Manager; Gail Prestemon, Nicole Willis, Justin Sweeney, Gina Curtin, Amy McCormick and Dan Denk of Waukon State Bank; Michael Coyle, Hospital CEO; and Kevin Hanson, President of the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation. Those interested in scheduling an appointment with one of the clinic providers for a date in May or beyond are invited to call the new clinic phone number at 563-568-5530. Donations are still being accepted by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation. All gifts to the Foundation are tax deductible. Anyone with any questions about the campaign or Foundation is invited to call the hospital at 563-568-3411. Submitted photo.
 

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 now to schedule an appointment for May or beyond.

Health insurance plans that are currently contracted with Veterans Memorial Hospital will also be accepted in the clinic. Those who are questioning if their health plan will be accepted should call their insurance company. Medicaid covered patients should contact Medicaid to make Veterans Memorial Hospital Waukon Clinic their primary care facility.

The hospital’s electronic medical record system will also be integrated into this new clinic with access to electronic records from other medical facilities.

by Tami Gebel, Occupational Therapist

Have you heard someone over the age of 60 years old say.... “In my day, we didn’t have computers to do all of these things for us.”  When they were young, writer’s cramp was a pain in the hand caused by holding a pencil for too long while writing on paper. These days, writer’s cramp is rare because everything is typed, texted, e-mailed or faxed.

Today the pain experienced from technology use is not limited to our hands; we have pains in our eyes, back, neck, wrists, elbows and shoulders. There is even new terminology, such as ‘texting thumb,’ ‘text claw,’ and ‘text neck’ to describe the pains we are experiencing with use of cell phones, computers, tablets, laptops, and even video gaming systems.

Thanks to the efforts of the Christensen family, the Julie Christensen Memorial Blood Drive will be held Wednesday, April 21 at the Waukon Wellness Center from 1-5:30 p.m. in the Senior Center in cooperation with Life Serve Blood Center.

Julie was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia November 27, 2019 and was in the hospital until February 14, 2020. She was then able to come home for a short while before she was admitted back into the hospital March 7, 2020 for more chemo and a stem cell transplant from an anonymous donor in Germany. It was a perfect match. Julie’s stem cells grafted well and she became Leukemia free. During this time, Julie received 45 units of blood and 38 units of platelets.

Allamakee County Public Health officials have announced they are now inviting anyone ages 18 and over to sign up on-line for a COVID-19 vaccine to be added to the vaccination list.

Anyone age 18 and over interested in being added to this list will need to access the Veterans Memorial Hospital website at  www.veteransmemorialhospital.com to sign-up. Those who are not able to sign up online can call the hospital at 563-568-3411 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. and ask for the COVID line for assistance with this process.