Health

by Katy Maker, Nurse Midwife and Nurse Practitioner, Veterans Memorial Hospital and Medical Clinics

Choosing whether to breastfeed or formula feed your baby is only one of the many decisions expectant parents will make. It takes time to make such an important decision because it will not only affect your baby’s life but also the lives of the entire household. Breastfeeding is a commitment that both parents are involved in as it takes support from the partner to be successful.

“National Breastfeeding Week is an excellent time to think about lots of issues around how we feed our children,” states Katy Maker, Nurse Midwife at Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) and Clinics. “The neat thing about breast milk is that it’s always ready, it’s made specifically for that one child, and there are many ways to involve the whole family.”

The members of the Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) are actively recruiting new and returning members to join them during their annual membership drive which is going on now.

The Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital is devoted to providing the hospital and its patients and visitors with many services. The Auxiliary also holds annual fundraisers, such as the Women’s Health Day event each fall, the Pillow-Perk in October, a garage sale in the spring and their annual membership drive each July.  All the money the Auxiliary receives goes back to the hospital for equipment.

August is National Immunization Awareness Month. The Centers for Disease Control reports that  history shows that vaccines are the safest, most effective way to protect yourself and your family from many preventable diseases.

Everyone should get all recommended vaccines at the recommended times. It is especially important for children and adolescents to get catch-up doses of any missed vaccines or vaccine doses as soon as they can. Adults should get all recommended vaccines for their age or other risk factors such as health condition or occupation. All adults should get tetanus boosters, seasonal flu and COVID-19 vaccines, and any vaccines missed in childhood.

Vaccines strengthen the body’s natural defenses. To be immune is to be partially or fully resistant to a specific infectious disease or disease-causing organism. A person who is immune can resist the bacteria or viruses that cause a disease, but the protection is never perfect.

The Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Diabetes Support Group will hold its next meeting Thursday, August 21, 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.

With the new school year fast approaching, Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Community and Home Care/Allamakee County Public Health and the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (Iowa HHS) encourage parents and guardians to ensure their children are up to date on immunizations by scheduling a visit with their healthcare providers as soon as possible. Keeping up with these routine vaccinations is a simple yet crucial step in protecting children from preventable diseases - helping them stay healthy - in school and ready to learn.

The new EPIC medical record system at Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) has now been in effect for over six weeks. This conversion to EPIC gained the hospital and clinics, and their patients, access to a comprehensive, user-friendly platform that streamlines patient data. One of the largest benefits to this new system is the MyChart Patient Portal which is used by over 150 million patients across the United States.  

With MyChart, patients can receive their test results much more quickly, request appointments and prescription refills, manage their children’s and other family members’ health care who need extra help, reach out to and contact a provider, manage health care financial accounts, and more. Other MyChart accounts can also be linked to this new hospital and clinics MyChart portal. 

The Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Diabetes Support Group will hold its next meeting Thursday, August 21, 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.

Memorials were recently received by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation in memory of Sandra Fish by Jane Dietrich, Patsy Kerndt, Lyle and Cindy Leikvold, HM Palmer, Dave and Gail Prestemon, Dean Schellhammer, Beth and Bill Shafer, Larry Snitker, anonymous, and Wayne Fish.

Memorials were also received in memory of Richard Bloxham by Rhonda Seibert, in memory of Sharon Decker by Betty Troendle, in memory of Jean Gander by Cindy Barness and in memory of Bill Gode by Brad and Becky Decker. 

In addition, memorials were received in memory of Cletus Fish by Ronnie and Nancy Adam, Joellen Foels and Mary Ann Hager.

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.

The annual Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) membership drive is now on. The members of the Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital are actively recruiting new and returning members to join them during this annual membership drive.

The Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital is devoted to providing the hospital and its patients and visitors with many services. In addition to their annual membership drive, they host the following events each year: the Women’s Health Day which will be held the evening of September 11 this year; the feather pillow ‘Pillow Perk,’ as well as their spring garage sale, all in addition to the gift case items located just inside the main entrance to the hospital.

Visitors to the Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) tent during the downtown Waukon Corn Days meal August 1 will be invited to play MyChart Trivia, and even sign-up for the new patient portal app being offered now for the first time at Veterans Memorial Hospital and Clinics. Prizes will be awarded through the Prize Wheel which is open to all ages.

The hospital will also be offering free Blood Pressure Checks, Blood Sugar Tests and Hemoglobin (Iron) Tests, all with immediate results. Random testing such as this opportunity at Waukon Corn Days helps to find the individuals who have high, undiagnosed diabetes, blood pressure or low iron and direct them to the professionals who can help them successfully manage the issue. Each test takes just a couple minutes to complete, they and do not require any fasting.