Health

The campaign for the new Postville Medical Clinic remains strong with another $10,000 donation from Waukon State Bank recently received to help renovate the new facility. Construction timeframes will soon be scheduled and announced as this fundraiser grows closer and closer to the goal of $200,000. Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) will be providing the additional funds for this extensive renovation. 

The Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Waukon Clinic is now offering a Chronic Care Management (CCM) program that helps Medicare patients with two or more chronic conditions coordinate all of their health care services. The program eases the worries of managing appointments with providers, prescription refills, and other health care services, while answering all questions and concerns in a timely manner. This program proves beneficial in helping chronic patients remain independent and alleviating the emergency room visits and hospital stays that often go along with those conditions.

February is Heart Month.  Veterans Memorial Hospital continues to encourage the public to learn the American Heart Association’s “Hands Only CPR.”  This simple way of performing CPR is very easy to do and effective for the victim.

According to the American Heart Association, there are more than 356,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests annually in the United States, with nearly 90% of them fatal. This is because only about 40% of people who experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital receive immediate care.

The American Heart Association has found Hands Only CPR is effective, easy to learn and encourages more people to act when they witness cardiac arrest. 

The Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Diabetes Support Group will hold its next meeting Thursday, February 19, 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.

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

The local Grief Support Group will again be holding their monthly meeting at Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Thursday, February 5, from 5-6 p.m. in the Meditation Healing Center, located just inside the main entrance of the hospital. Nancy Haberichter will be facilitating the meeting.

This informal meeting is open to anyone suffering from any type of loss whether it be death, divorce, illness or some other grief.

Feel free to attend and bring a friend. This grief support will continue meeting the first Thursday of each month at Veterans Memorial Hospital.
 

by Katy Maker, Nurse Midwife 
VMH Waukon Clinic

Anticipating the birth of a newborn involves much planning and worry for most parents. This month is Birth Defect Awareness Month and represents a chance to think about problems we all hope will not arise; however birth defects are more common than people realize. They occur in roughly 3 percent of births in the USA and range from minor to very complex.

What can you do to prevent those that can be prevented and be prepared with the best team available to help when they cannot?

Late last summer, a campaign began to raise $200,000 for renovations to build a new, larger and more accessible Postville Medical Clinic. Over $173,000 has been raised to date for this project leaving just $27,000 to make the goal so the renovations can begin.

The new clinic location will be located in the old Upper Explorerland building, just to the west of the current Postville Medical Clinic. The main push behind this project is the lack of space for the growing number of patients at the clinic each day plus room for new providers that are beginning to see patients.

People who give blood have an 88-percent lower risk of having a heart attack so giving blood is a win-win situation for both the donor and the recipient.  Blood pressure, pulse and hemoglobin are all checked at everyone blood donation so donors know if it’s high or low and can see patterns that may cause concern, helping keep them healthy and reducing heart attack risk.

Consider a different way to give back to the heart of the community by donating blood. The next local drive will be held in Waukon Monday, February 2, from 12-5 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in south Waukon.

Blood donations are needed everywhere, even right here in Iowa. First time donors will find that donating blood is a safe and easy way to save lives and make a difference in the community. One single blood donation can save the lives of up to three sick or injured hospital patients in need of blood.

The local Grief Support Group will again be holding their monthly meeting at Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Thursday, February 5, from 5-6 p.m. in the Meditation Healing Center, located just inside the main entrance of the hospital. Nancy Haberichter will be facilitating the meeting.

This informal meeting is open to anyone suffering from any type of loss whether it be death, divorce, illness or some other grief.

Feel free to attend and bring a friend. This grief support will continue meeting the first Thursday of each month at Veterans Memorial Hospital.
 

Memorials were recently received by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation in memory of Les Winters by Marilyn Anderson, Kevin and Sandy Becker, Brad and Erin Berns,  Charles and Maxine Bloxham, David and Dawn Clark, Jeremy and Gina Curtin, Steve and Sheryl Evanson, Tim and Kristi Fahey, Ann Fossum, Gail Good, Beverly Haas, Deb and Keith Hanson, James and Jill Kiesau, Pamela Kiesau, Troy and Ashley Knox, Larry and Jennifer Kubitz, Patrick and Debra McGeough, Thomas and Mary Mellick, Don and Connie Nagel, Jim Needham and Bev Larson-Needham, Patrick and Patricia O’Neill, Carol Paus, David and Gail Prestemon, Kevin and Ann Quillin, Natalie Rasmussen, Bill and Karen Regan, Jane Rissman, Dean “Beanzy” Schellhammer, Lyle and Julie Schulte, Richard and Susan Schulte, Trish and Corey Shelton, Karen and Ed Stamper, Marilyn and James Thies, Chuck and Lois Votsmier, Betty White, Chad and Trish Wilkins, Jim and Mary Winters, Ron and Kim Winters, Brian and Denise Wullner and Debra Zuercher