Health

Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care/Allamakee Public Health handles everything from insurance authorizations, admissions, routine home health visits, case-management, disease investigations, vaccinations, state-mandated audits, home health and immunization billing, county and regional emergency preparedness and response, community outreach clinics, among other areas where the services of that department may be needed.

Last year, Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care achieved the following statistics in regard to patient care:
• Performed 2,994 Skilled Nursing visits
• Performed 3,237 Home Care Aide Visits
• Administered 2,197 Immunizations
• Drove 59,792 miles around Allamakee County to care for clients in the area communities.

The vision at Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) in Waukon is ‘to be a premier health facility and a leader in fostering a healthy community through innovation, excellence, stewardship, and commitment to the people we serve throughout their lifetime.’ Veterans Memorial Hospital encourages students to be part of this vision by job shadowing with the hospital.

As part of Veterans Memorial Hospital’s commitment to supporting education and promoting future talent, the hospital encourages and welcomes students who are eager to explore various career paths through job shadows.

Job shadowing allows students to observe professionals in action, gain first-hand knowledge of different roles and responsibilities, and make informed decisions about their future career paths. Veterans Memorial Hospital wants to invest in the next generation of professionals and provide them opportunities to learn and grow.

The Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Diabetes Support Group will hold its next meeting Thursday, March 21 at 10 a.m. The meeting will be held at VMH in the Large Conference Room, located on the lower level of the hospital.

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.
 

Veterans Memorial Hospital will be offering Grandparenting classes again this spring. Corinne Cook, RN, Babysitting Class instructor, will teach the next Grandparenting Class Saturday, April 6 from 9:30 a.m. until Noon. The class will be held in the hospital’s Large Conference Room.

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 (VMH) will sponsor the next Babysitting Seminars Friday, March 29, from 9 a.m. to Noon. The class will be held in the Large Conference Room located on the lower level of Veterans Memorial Hospital.

Intended participants are individuals 10 years of age and older who are responsible for their own care after school until their parents come home from work, and individuals who care for other children in or outside of their own home. Girls and boys are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Topics to be covered include fire and personal safety, accident prevention and emergency actions, nutritious snacks and basic care of children.

The Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Medical Clinic in Waukon extended evening hours, that began in January, have been a popular option after work and school, allowing families to seek medical attention at a convenient time.

Patients are welcome to walk-in to the clinic between the hours of 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. any Monday through Thursday evening, without an appointment, for acute, non-emergent needs such as the following: broken bones (other than hips or femurs), cough/cold, diarrhea, ear aches, fever, flu, minor burns, minor cuts, muscle strain, pink eye, rash/hives, removal of foreign body, sinus infection, skin infection, sore throat, urinary tract infection and vomiting. Since this is a walk-in clinic without any scheduled appointments and some nights are busier than others, the wait time to see the provider may be longer.

Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) in Waukon will sponsor the next Babysitting Seminar Friday, March 29, from 9 a.m. to Noon. The class will be held in the Large Conference Room located on the lower level of Veterans Memorial Hospital.

Intended participants are individuals 10 years of age and older who are responsible for their own care after school until their parents come home from work, and individuals who care for other children inside or outside of their own home. Girls and boys are all welcome and encouraged to attend. Topics to be covered include fire and personal safety, accident prevention and emergency actions, nutritious snacks and basic care of children.

Many members of the First Presbyterian Church are pictured above and below on one of their many workdays, tying blankets to be donated to patients at Veterans Memorial Hospital and elsewhere. These ladies work on quilting and other service projects at their homes, then come together monthly to complete their work and plan for the deliveries of these service projects. Patients of all ages at Veterans Memorial Hospital enjoy the blankets as well as care facilities, the Allamakee County Relief Office, Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation (NEICAC), TASC, Abused Women division of Helping Services; the Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital in Iowa City, a homeless shelter in Des Moines, and local fire, sheriff and police departments. Sue Schlitter and Dorothy Van Ruler, Project Coordinators, state, “We have been meeting for over 10 years, sharing our projects, sharing our stories and just enjoying one another’s company over coffee. We even go out for lunch together following.

In today’s fast-paced society, with people eating on the run and not planning ahead, eating has become a mindless act. Distractions have shifted our attention away from the actual act of eating towards televisions, computers and smart-phones. This can be problematic, since it takes your brain up to 20 minutes to realize you’re full.

When we are dividing our attention, we usually eat faster and often overeat. If you eat too fast, the fullness signal may not arrive until you have already eaten too much. This is one of the contributing factors to our obesity crisis today.

Mindful eating is a technique that helps you gain control over your environment and eating habits.  Mindful eating is about using mindfulness to reach a state of full attention to your experiences, cravings, and physical cues while eating. Using mindful eating has been shown to promote weight loss, reduce binge eating and help you feel healthier.

Beginning April 1, Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) and Clinics will begin to collect the co-pay from patients at the time of their appointments. This will only apply to patients who have a health insurance plan that includes a co-pay option.  Patients are encouraged to review their health plans to know if their plan has a co-pay option or not.

“Most all health care facilities have been requiring payment of co-pays at the time of services for many years, so it is time for us to make this change as well,” explains Michael Coyle, Hospital CEO. “This will streamline our billing process and will actually make the billing more understandable for our patients. We are just trying to get the word out that this will begin April 1 so everyone is aware and has a chance to review their health insurance plans before their next visit.”