Health

The 2016 Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation’s Christmas Fantasy was held last weekend, November 11-14 at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds Pavilion in Waukon, and was a huge success thanks to all of the overwhelming community involvement.

“From the decorators, to the entertainers, to the treat makers, to the auction donors and buyers, I am once again overwhelmed by the community participation, and also the community support by the large numbers of people who attended the events,” stated Mike Myers, Hospital administrator. “Our Foundation members should be proud of themselves for putting on such a spectacular community event.”

A record number of auction items were donated to this year’s Fantasy by area businesses and individuals. The 111 auction items were displayed and auctioned on a silent auction bid to the highest bidder Monday night at 7 p.m.

Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care continues to offer flu shots every Wednesday afternoon during regular immunization clinics. The next flu shot clinics will be held Wednesday, November 23 from 1-4 p.m. and then again Wednesday, November 30 from 1-4 p.m., and each Wednesday afternoon thereafter. The Community and Home Care Immunization Clinic is located on the upper level of Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon.

Immunization clinics are held from 1-6 p.m. the first and third Wednesdays of the month, and from 1-4 p.m. all other Wednesdays. Flu vaccine, pneumonia vaccine, and a combination of flu and pneumonia vaccine will all be available. Tetanus shots are always offered as well.

Billing for Medicare will be completed by the Community and Home Care staff, but participants will need to bring their physician’s name and their Medicare number with them. Pneumonia and Tdap shots are also available.

Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon will again be holding its regular Weekend Clinic over the Thanksgiving holiday. The special Weekend Clinic will be held Thursday, November 24 from 1-5 p.m. for all non-emergencies.

Weekend Clinics are held every Saturday and Sunday at Veterans Memorial Hospital, all year round, from 1-5 p.m. each day for non-emergencies. Non-emergencies are considered ailments that could be seen by a physician in a clinic and do not require an emergency room visit, such as minor injuries, sore throats and/or ear aches, but cannot wait until regular clinic business hours. These Weekend Clinics save families the cost of regular emergency room fees on the weekends when the other local clinics are closed.

Anyone needing to utilize these special weekend clinics over the holiday is asked to enter the hospital through the main entrance and register with the receptionist. For more information, call Veterans Memorial Hospital at 563-568-3411.
 

Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) in Waukon is pleased to announce it has been named a 2016 Guardian of Excellence Award® winner by Press Ganey. The Guardian of Excellence Award recognizes top-performing health care organizations that have consistently achieved the 95th percentile or above of performance in Patient Experience/Inpatient Services.
The Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Award is a nationally-recognized symbol of achievement in health care. Presented annually, the award honors clients who consistently sustained performance in the top five percent of all Press Ganey clients for each reporting period during the course of one year.

Gundersen Waukon Clinic welcomes family medicine physician Coley Barbee, MD to its team caring for people in northeast Iowa. Dr. Barbee provides the full scope of family care for patients of all ages, including well-woman care, contraception management, preventative care and chronic disease management. Dr. Barbee’s practice includes obstetrics, and she will help patients deliver their babies in town, at Veterans Memorial Hospital.

She has lived, worked and studied in some of the United States’ largest cities, such as New York City and Boston, but was born and raised in the small town of Cherryfield, ME. The town has roughly a third of Waukon’s population.

“I grew up in a small rural community and always knew I wanted to provide primary care to rural residents” says Dr. Barbee. “The Midwest is a great place to practice family medicine and though I miss my home state of Maine (especially the ocean) I am excited to join this community.”

The Veterans Memorial Hospital Diabetes Management Program began offering the Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) system to their patients with diabetes in 2008. Since its inception, the results have been extremely useful to the physicians as well as the patients, giving them optimal control of their diabetes and their life.

What is Continuous Glucose Monitoring?
Continuous glucose monitoring is used to determine what blood glucose levels are continuously, 24 hours a day, and not just after a meal when a person regularly tests their own blood sugar level. Up until this point, the only way to obtain all of this information would be for a person with diabetes to take their own blood sugar test by pricking their finger about 288 times a day.

Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care will be continuing its community flu clinics this month during regular immunization clinic hours on the following dates: November 16 from 1-6 p.m., November 23 from 1-4 p.m., and November 30 from 1-4 p.m.

The Community and Home Care Immunization Clinic is located on the upper level of Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. Flu vaccine, pneumonia vaccine, and a combination of flu and pneumonia vaccine will all be available. Tetanus shots will be offered as well.

Medicare does cover these costs. Billing for Medicare will be completed by the Community and Home Care staff, but participants will need to bring their physician’s name and their Medicare number with them.

Influenza, also called the flu, can cause fever, chills, headache, cough, sore throat, and muscle aches to people of any age, and can lead to pneumonia and even death. But most deaths caused by influenza are in elderly people.

by Teresa Myers, RN, CDE Diabetes Educator, Veterans Memorial Hospital

November is Diabetes Awareness Month. Are you aware that the rate of diabetes has nearly doubled in the past ten years; that type 2 diabetes has even started showing up in teenagers; that 40% of those aged 40 to 70 have pre-diabetes; and most importantly, that diabetes and its complications can be almost totally avoidable?

A study released in September 2008 by the Center For Disease Control and the American Diabetes Association show that about 90% of the newly diagnosed cases of type 2 diabetes are related to life style and eating habits.

“Weight is the strongest risk factor by far for diabetes,” says Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health. “Given that most people are not going to get down to an optimal weight, diet quality is almost as important as weight control. Exercise plays a major role in reducing these risks even further.”

Don’t miss the Medicare annual open enrollment period for Part D drug plans which runs through December 7. Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon has SHIIP counselors Russ Hagen and Stan and Mary Straate available to discuss Medicare Part D plans available for 2017 and Medicare Advantage. Appointments are required.

Call Veterans Memorial Hospital at 563-568-3411 to schedule an appointment. Those with appointments will need to bring their Medicare card, current Part D plan card and a list of medications from their pharmacy which includes drug name, quantity and dosage.

These SHIIP volunteers are available throughout the year at Veterans Memorial Hospital. To make an appointment with a SHIIP volunteer, call the hospital at 563-568-3411.

The Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital will be holding its monthly Euchre Marathon for all individuals of the community interested Thursday, November 17. Men and women are welcome to attend, even if not an Auxiliary member. The Euchre marathons are held the third Thursday of each month at the Senior Citizens Room at the Waukon Wellness Center.

The Auxiliary’s Euchre Marathons begin at 11:30 a.m. with dinner if chosen. Those choosing to eat dinner should call Northland Agency on Aging at 877-838-8077. Card playing will follow at 12:30 p.m. until approximately 2:30 p.m. Anyone wishing to stay and play cards following the Senior Citizens meal is more than welcome to do so. The cost is $3 per person with all proceeds going towards the Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital. Prizes will be awarded.

Anyone interested in attending, but preferring to play Bridge is also welcome to join in. It is asked that they come with their table of four players, however.