Health

The next LifeServe Blood Center blood drive will be held Monday, August 1, from 12-5 p.m., at the First Baptist Church located in south Waukon. Blood drives are held once a month in Waukon, to allow for more donors to give. The LifeServe Blood Center supplies Veterans Memorial Hospital with its blood and blood products.

Blood centers across the United States see a decrease in blood donations during the busy summer months. During the summer, people become more active, have busier schedules, spend more time outdoors and take vacations. While donations decline, hospitals see an increase in the need for blood. More driving can mean more automobile accidents. A person who has suffered severe injuries from an automobile accident can need up to 50 units of blood.

Veterans Memorial Hospital will be offering “Hands Only” CPR training Sunday, July 24, at their booth in the Pavilion at the Allamakee County Fair. “Hands Only” CPR is a simple technique for performing CPR that is intended for non-trained bystanders to use easily and effectively on any adult or teen needing CPR.

“Hands Only” CPR is a simple two step process.  Whenever a teen or adult suddenly collapse, the bystander should first send someone to call 911 or call 911 themselves. Then place the heel of one hand in the center of the patient’s chest, with the other hand on top, and press hard and fast until help arrives.

The chest compressions should be performed at a rate of 100 beats per minute, or to the beat of the song “Staying Alive.”  There is no need to perform any mouth to mouth breathing. It has been proven that it is most important that the circulation be maintained through the chest compressions.

The Veterans Memorial Hospital Medical Clinic in Postville opened Tuesday, July 5, at 124 West Green Street in the same location of the former Postville Medical Clinic in downtown Postville. The clinic will follow a consistent schedule Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. The clinic will remain open over the lunch hour, then close from 1-2 p.m. each afternoon.

The Postville Clinic has one full-time provider, Michelle Crary, Nurse Practitioner, and Dr. Thomas McMullan, who will continue to see patients in the clinic on a part-time basis.

Michelle Crary, Nurse Practitioner, is working four days a week in the clinic. She has over 10 years of nursing experience at both Gundersen Health and Mayo Clinic in La Crosse, WI as well as Winneshiek Medical Center in Decorah. She has been seeing patients at the Veterans Memorial Hospital Medical Clinic in Waukon for the last two months.

As of Friday, July 8, Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) is temporarily closing its Urgent Care department, which has been available evenings and weekends for walk-in, non-emergent cases. The hospital does plan to reopen the Urgent Care Area again in the fall.  During this time, patients seeking immediate or emergency care should visit the VMH Emergency Department (ER).

For all other needs, patients should utilize either of the Veterans Memorial Hospital Medical Clinics located in Waukon at 105 E. Main Street, or in Postville at 124 W. Green Street.  

The Waukon Medical Clinic is open Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. In addition, Mondays, this clinic offers early access hours beginning at 7 a.m., and evening appointments are available Thursdays until 7 p.m. Starting July 5, the Postville Medical Clinic will be open Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

submitted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

What You Need to Know
• COVID-19 can make children and teens of any age very sick and can sometimes require treatment in a hospital. Some children and teens have even died from COVID-19.
• The benefit of COVID-19 vaccines, like other vaccines, is that those vaccinated get protection without risking the potentially serious consequences of getting sick with COVID-19.
• Help protect children from severe disease, hospitalization, or death by getting them vaccinated against COVID-19.

The Veterans Memorial Hospital Medical Clinic-Postville opened Tuesday, July 5 at 124 West Green Street in the same location of the former Postville Medical Clinic in downtown Postville. The clinic will follow a consistent schedule Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. The clinic will remain open over the lunch hour, then close from 1-2 p.m. each afternoon.

Minor renovations have been completed to the clinic building which mostly consisted of new flooring, paint and furniture.

This will be the second clinic to be opened and managed by Veterans Memorial Hospital in just over a year. The Waukon Clinic opened May 3, 2021, with three full-time providers and one part-time provider. The Postville Clinic will open with one full-time provider and one part-time provider. Both locations will work closely, sharing many services and staff, ensuring patients are seen by a medical provider at one location or the other as soon as possible with great continuity of care.

Veterans Memorial Hospital will be offering a variety of free health tests and education at the 2022 Allamakee County Fair. Testing and educational materials will change daily.

Thursday, July 21, opening night of the commercial business exhibits located in the Pavilion, free blood sugar and diabetes tests will be offered by Angie Mettille, R.N., Certified Diabetes Educator, of the Veterans Memorial Hospital Diabetes Department. These tests will run from 3-7 p.m.

The hospital’s diabetes staff often reach out at a variety of local events and offer these free tests because the national guidelines continue to change, lowering the blood sugar’s normal range, so they feel it is very important to reach out to the community to continue to offer these screenings to try to catch anyone with a borderline or high blood sugar as early as possible.

As of Friday, July 8, Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) in Waukon is temporarily closing its Urgent Care department, which has been available evenings and weekends for walk-in, non-emergent cases. The hospital does plan to reopen the Urgent Care again in the fall. During this time, patients seeking immediate or emergency care should visit the VMH Emergency Department (ER).

For all other needs, patients should utilize either of the Veterans Memorial Hospital Medical Clinics located in Waukon at 105 East Main Street, or in Postville at 124 West Green Street.

The Waukon Medical Clinic is open Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. In addition, Mondays, this clinic offers early access hours beginning at 7 a.m., and evening appointments are available Thursdays until 7 p.m. Starting July 5, the Postville Medical Clinic will be open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care/Allamakee County Public Health continues to offer all doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, plus the additional booster dose, at their weekly immunization clinics each Wednesday throughout the month of July. These vaccinations are by appointment only and are held each Wednesday afternoon, with extended hours available the first and third Wednesdays of each month.

These vaccinations are available at the main entrance of the hospital in the Meditation Healing Center.  To make an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccination, in July and beyond, call Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care at 563-568-5660.

by Sheryl Darling Mooney, RN, Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care

It’s great to get out and enjoy the outdoors here in Allamakee and Clayton Counties, but remember to be vigilant about checking yourself and others with you for ticks. Examine your skin as best you can and use a hand-held mirror if available. Fine-toothed combs can also be used in helping to check your scalp. “I’d Like to Check You for Ticks”, isn’t just the catchy title to a country song, but a good idea to have someone else check the areas you can’t easily see. There are ways to help decrease the likelihood of a tick bite or attachment:

- Treat dogs and cats for ticks
- Wear insect repellent containing the ingredient DEET (not recommended for children under two months of age)
- Wear permethrin-treated clothing
- Check yourself for ticks after being outdoors, especially after being out in the woods
- Shower soon after coming indoors