Health

An additional walk-in clinic for the flu and COVID vaccines will be offered Wednesday, November 15 at Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care/Allamakee Public Health. Anyone is welcome to walk-in without an appointment to receive either or both of these vaccines.  This clinic will be held from 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. at the main entrance of the hospital.

As the elderly population continues to grow and individuals desire to remain independent in their own homes for as long as possible, home health care will continue to be a driving force in health care delivery in the next century.

Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care is a locally-based, home health care agency serving Allamakee and a small portion of Clayton and Winneshiek counties.  Registered nurses and certified home care aides travel to offer assistance to individuals who wish to remain in their homes for as long as possible.

Home health care has proven to be cost effective in that nursing home placement can often be postponed if there is in-home assistance available.

The baby hats pictured above were recently donated to the Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Maternity Services Department by Allen Real Estate and Allen Roofing & Construction of Monona. The hats were knitted and donated by Diane Finely for a fundraiser at Peace United Church of Christ in Elkader. Allen Real Estate and Allen Roofing & Construction purchased the hats and donated them to the VMH Maternity Services Department for all babies born at the hospital. Pictured at left is Bailey Estebo, RN, Assistant Chief Nursing Officer with Jared Landt of Allen Real Estate and Allen Roofing & Construction making the donation. Submitted photo.
 

The Veterans Memorial Hospital Diabetes Support Group will hold its next meeting Thursday, November 16 at 10 a.m. The meeting will be held at Veterans Memorial Hospital in the Large Conference Room, located on the lower level of the hospital.

Tara Fink (pictured above), Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner/Behavior Health Provider at the VMH Waukon and Postville Clinics, will be speaking on seasonal depression and enhancing mental health through the winter months.

This diabetes class is open to everyone who has diabetes or who has a friend or loved one with diabetes.  For more information on the Diabetes Support Group, call  Angie Mettille, RN, at Veterans Memorial Hospital at 563-568-3411.
 

Those eligible and interested have until December 7 to enroll in or change Medicare drug plans for 2024 and are advised to not wait until the last minute. Remember, those who are on Medicare and don’t have drug coverage, or if the coverage they have is not as good as Medicare’s, will face a penalty for each month they delay enrolling.

Those who have questions about Medicare drug coverage should call their local SHIIP counselor at Veterans Memorial Hospital at 563-568-3411. SHIIP volunteers are available to meet individually with anyone in the community who wishes to compare the Medicare Part D plans available for 2024.

Veterans Memorial Hospital has a new SHIIP volunteer, Jim Johnson. He has joined Nancy Schoh in providing this valuable free service to anyone needing assistance with their Medicare plan.

November is Lung Cancer Prevention Month. According to the American Association for Cancer Research, lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in the United States for both men and women. It is estimated 127,070 patients will die of the disease this year in the United States.

Smoking is the most common cause of lung cancer. Join the American Cancer Society’s Great America Smokeout this Thursday, November 16. The American Cancer Society has steps a smoker can take to help find quit smoking programs, resources and support that can increase the chances of quitting successfully. To learn about available tools from the National Cancer Society, call 800-227-2345.

The Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation’s Christmas Fantasy 2023 will be held Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, November 10, 11, 12 and 13, at the Allamakee Fairgrounds Pavilion. The theme will be, “Wishing You a Merry Grinchmas.”

The 2023 Fantasy Schedule of Events for this weekend includes:

“Tingle ‘N Mingle” Happy Hour
The Friday evening “Tingle ‘N Mingle” happy hour will be held November 10, from 5-8 p.m. This annual Friday night happy hour event is a special opportunity to meet socially with friends and co-workers after work. Many new hot and hearty hors d’oeuvres will be added this year, plus desserts, candies, and spirits will be served among the trees.

Each ticket includes all of the food plus two drink tickets. Tickets can be purchased now in advance at the main entrance of Veterans Memorial Hospital or at all local banks in Allamakee County. Tickets may also be purchased at the door.

The number of Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) in this area has dwindled over the years as licensed EMTs have retired. Allamakee and northern Clayton Counties are fortunate to have many emergency response services, but nearly all of them are in need of more EMTs on their service to share the call time, ensuring local emergency services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

NICC will be offering a face-to-face EMT Class in Waukon beginning in January. This class is not offered locally each year, so the fact it will be held in Waukon is a convenience for those wishing to take the course with little travel time. This is a 138-hour course which will conclude in May. Registration for the class must be completed prior to the orientation night January 8.

November 5-11 is observed as National Radiologic Technologist Week. The Veterans Memorial Hospital Radiology Department radiologic technologists are all cross-trained in a wide variety of x-ray services.  One of them is on-call, 24 hours a day.

The department offers Mammography, CT scanning, MRI, Ultrasound, Nuclear Medicine, Echocardiograms and Bone Densitometry, as well as all basic x-ray services. The x-ray equipment provides detailed pictures of all bones, plus fluoroscopy for pictures of organs inside the body.

X-rays taken at Veterans Memorial Hospital are able to be read by a radiologist 24 hours a day, seven days a week through Teleradiology, for quick interpretation, which can be especially helpful in the case of emergencies.

Those eligible and interested have until December 7 to enroll in or change Medicare drug plans for 2024 and are advised to not wait until the last minute. Remember, those who are on Medicare and don’t have drug coverage, or if the coverage they have is not as good as Medicare’s, they will face a penalty for each month they delay enrolling.

Those who have questions about Medicare drug coverage should call their local SHIIP counselor at Veterans Memorial Hospital at 563-568-3411. SHIIP volunteers are available to meet individually with anyone in the community who wishes to compare the Medicare Part D plans available for 2024.

Appointments are required. Call Veterans Memorial Hospital at 563-568-3411 to schedule an appointment. Anyone meeting with a SHIIP counselor will need to bring their Medicare card, current Part D plan card and a list of their medications from their pharmacy. SHIIP is a free, confidential service of the State of Iowa.