Health

How many people know that one in seven people entering the hospital will need blood?

Attend the next LifeServe Blood Center Blood Drive to be held Monday, October 3 from 12-5 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in south Waukon. Blood drives are held once per month. The LifeServe Blood Center supplies Veterans Memorial Hospital with its blood and blood products.

The LifeServe Blood Center is seeking donors to ensure a safe and plentiful blood supply in Iowa. Because there is no substitute for human blood, the need for donors is continuous.

Over half of the United States population is eligible to donate blood, yet less than four percent donate on a regular basis. A single donation of blood can be used to save up to three lives and help in treatment of cancer patients, accident victims, hemophiliacs and surgery patients. The LifeServe Blood Center is committed to serving the needs of Iowans by saving lives through blood donation.

October 5, Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care/Allamakee County Public Health will begin to offer their annual Flu Shot Clinics. The new COVID-19 vaccine booster for the variant strains will also be offered, as well as the primary (first and second doses) of the COVID-19 vaccine.

These walk-in clinics will begin Wednesday, October 5 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. Additional flu shot and COVID-19 vaccine clinics will follow at the same time each Wednesday including October 12, October 19, October 26 and November 2.

Vaccination clinics have also been added all around Allamakee County this fall in addition to the walk-in clinics at the hospital. The schedule for these walk-in clinics is as follows:

Veterans Memorial Hospital 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.

Memorials were recently received by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation in memory of John Regan, Jr. by Linda Flatland, Mary Ann Hager, Dennis and Julie Herman, Patsy Kerndt, Jim and Jill Kiesau, Robert and Jeanine Mathis, Wayne and Nona Sawyer, Chuck and Lois Votsmier and Ann Roed.

Memorials were also received in memory of Deputy John Grampovnik by Brad and Judy Herman, Jim and Jill Kiesau, Linda Flatland, Diane Regan, and Chuck and Lois Votsmier.

Additional memorials were received in memory of Dwayne Moon by Mary Ann Hager; in memory of Ronald Roese by Barb White, Mary Ann Hager, Jim and Jill Kiesau and Chuck and Lois Votsmier; in memory of Arlene King by Mary Ann Hager; and in memory of Elaine Martin by Dr. David and Suzanne Hahn, Mary Ann Hager, John and Lorna Kerndt, Russ and Mary Jo Meyer, Wayne and Nona Sawyer and Linda Siegrist.

The Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital, together with Elliott Jewelers of Waukon, are excited to announce they will be hosting their 17th annual Women’s Health Day wellness event, which will now be back to a full “normal” event. It will be held Tuesday, September 27 at the Waukon Banquet Center. All ages are invited to attend any part of this educational event, beginning at 11 a.m. with a wellness fair offering a variety of free health tests and information, and a luncheon and program held from Noon to 1 p.m.

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. The hospital turned in a petition with more than enough signatures to earn a spot on the ballot November 8 for voters to vote on this conversion in the upcoming general election.

Often individuals are informed at their annual physicals they may be overweight and are advised by their health care provider to try to drop a few pounds, but that is not as easy as it sounds. Many stop eating and go on a crash diet, only to regain the weight plus more since they have probably just slowed their metabolism by not fueling their body properly.

Bob Swenson of Waukon recently visited Dr. Schwartz in the Veterans Memorial Hospital Waukon Medical Clinic for his annual Medicare physical, and it was recommended that he lose 25 pounds to help improve his cholesterol numbers and overall health.

Veterans Memorial Hospital 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.

How many know how much blood is needed by certain patients? Here are some facts from the LifeServe Blood Center.

• Cancer patients can use up to eight units of blood a month.
• Bone Marrow Transplant patients can use up to two units a day.
• Cardiovascular Surgery patient can use between two and 25 units.
• Liver Transplant patients can use up to 100 units.
• Auto/Trauma Accident patients can use five to 100 units.
• Premature infants can use up to one to four units.
• Burn victims can use up to 20 units of platelets.
• Heart surgery patients can use up to three to eight units of red cells and one to 10 units of platelets.
• Organ transplant patients can use 10-30 units of blood.

October 5, Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care/Allamakee County Public Health will begin to offer their annual Flu Shot Clinics. The new COVID-19 vaccine booster for the variant strains will also be offered, as well as the primary (first and second doses) of the COVID-19 vaccine.

These walk-in clinics will begin Wednesday, October 5, 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. Additional flu shot and COVID-19 vaccine clinics will follow at the same time each Wednesday including October 12, October 19, October 26, November 2 and November 9.

Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Be sure to wear a mask and bring and insurance card and vaccination card if coming for any of the COVID-19 vaccines.