Health

Alex Berns has joined the Veterans Memorial Hospital Medical Clinic-Waukon as the new Family Practice Nurse Practitioner and is accepting patients of all ages.  He will be working in the clinic full-time, joining Dr. Dave Schwartz; Sue McMillan, NP; Halie Ruff, NP, Katy Maker, Nurse Midwife; and Jon Hawes, PA in providing accessible health care locally.

Berns recently received his Doctorate Family Nurse Practitioner degree from Clarke University in Dubuque. He began his career at Veterans Memorial Hospital as a C.N.A., then continued as a full-time nurse after receiving his RN degree. Now after branching out and gaining experience in Hospice, Emergency, the ICU in Rochester and general inpatient care, he has returned to Veterans Memorial Hospital as a family nurse practitioner.

Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) staff and board members continue to visit each Allamakee County community to present and discuss the need to convert from a city-owned hospital to a county-owned hospital.  These sessions last less than an hour and will answer questions anyone may have about the proposed conversion of VMH from a city-owned to a county-owned hospital.  

The schedule for these county meetings, by date, is as follows:
• Waukon - Tuesday, October 25 at 6 p.m. in the Freedom Bank Community Room
• Postville - Tuesday, November 1 at 6 p.m. in the NEIA Wellness Center Meeting Room.

Anyone is welcome to attend these presentations, and question and answer sessions will follow each one. Questions such as the following will be covered at these meetings:
 

An estimated 252,710 new invasive cases of breast cancer are expected to occur among women in the United States during 2022 and about 2,470 new cases of breast cancer are expected in men. In total, an estimated 40,610 deaths (40,170 women and 440 men) are anticipated from breast cancer.

These numbers have steadily decreased since 1990. The American Cancer Society states the decrease represents progress in both earlier detection and improved treatment.

Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care/Allamakee County Public Health’s annual flu shot clinics are underway.  The new COVID-19 vaccine booster for variant strains is also being offered, as well as the primary (first and second doses) of the COVID-19 vaccine.

These walk-in clinics are currently being held every Wednesday through November 9, from 9-11:30 a.m. in the ICN room located on the west side of the hospital, next to the Gundersen Clinic. Parking will be available right outside that entrance, marked with orange cones.

The Veterans Memorial Hospital Diabetes Support Group will hold its next meeting Thursday, October 20 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.

The two newest VMH Medical Clinic providers will be presenting at this meeting. Alex Berns is a family medicine nurse practitioner and Tara Fink is also a nurse practitioner specializing in behavioral health. Alex Berns will be seeing patients of all ages for anything and everything, including treatment of diabetes. He plans on discussing health concerns that are associated with diabetes, such as neuropathy and heart disease.

Anyone can make a difference by making a life-saving blood donation at the next Waukon Community Blood Drive. The next blood drive will take place Thursday, November 3 from Noon to 5 p.m. at Waukon High School.

Donating blood is safe, simple and it saves lives.  Blood donors have a unique opportunity to contribute to their community by making a life-saving blood donation. Everyone who registers to donate blood goes through four simple steps during the donation process:  registration, donor history and mini-physical, blood donation and snacks.

New blood donors who are not familiar with the blood donation process are encouraged to ask questions before, during and after their blood donation. Below are a few tips for ensuring a successful donation:

Tara Fink of Harpers Ferry, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, has joined the Veterans Memorial Hospital clinics to offer behavioral health care and counseling. She will be providing consultations at both the Waukon and Postville clinic locations. She shares her passion for mental health care and the need in these underserved communities in northeast Iowa.

The Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) will be holding its annual Pillow Perk this year Monday, October 24 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. located on the Lower Level of Veterans Memorial Hospital. Kraft Pillow Service will be on site to make old pillows look like new.

Everyone is encouraged to bring in their feather pillows to the Pillow Perk to be cleaned, sanitized and given new ticking. Foam and Dacron pillows may also be renovated by this process. People are also encouraged to bring in their feather beds and have them made into new pillows.

Everyone is instructed to enter the hospital through the lower level loading dock entrance and to have their pillows in plastic bags marked with their name when they drop them off.   Directional signage will be located on the street right outside that door.

Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon will sponsor a Babysitting Seminar Saturday, October 22. This class will be broken down into two different sessions to allow for better spacing of students.

The morning session will be held from 9 a.m.-Noon and the afternoon session from 1-4 p.m. The same information will be taught at both sessions, so students can sign up for one session or the other. A total of 20 students will be taken in each session.

Both classes will be held in the Large Conference Room located on the lower level of Veterans Memorial Hospital. The entrance for the class will be the hospital shipping/receiving entrance located on the east side of the building near the MRI truck, across from the golf course. Signs will be posted indicating the location.

Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) staff and board members continue to visit each Allamakee County community to present and discuss the need to convert from a city-owned hospital to a county-owned hospital.  These sessions last less than an hour and will answer any questions anyone may have about the proposed conversion of VMH from a city-owned to a county-owned hospital.  

The schedule for these county meetings, by date, is as follows:
• Harpers Ferry - Tuesday, October 18 at 6 p.m. at the Harpers Ferry Community Center
• Waukon - Tuesday, October 25 at 6 p.m. in the Freedom Bank Community Room
• Postville - Tuesday, November 1 at 6 p.m. in the NEIA Wellness Center Meeting Room.

Anyone is welcome to attend these presentations, and question and answer sessions will follow each one. Questions such as the following will be covered at these meetings: