Health

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:

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 new 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.

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 Veterans Memorial Hospital from a city-owned to a county-owned hospital.

The schedule for these county meetings, by community and date, is as follows:

The Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) and Elliott Jewelers of Waukon hosted their 17th Annual Women’s Health Day Luncheon Tuesday, September 27, at the Waukon Banquet Center. Over 120 ladies attended the sandwich and salad luncheon hosted by the Auxiliary members, plus many free health and wellness tests were also available.

The theme for this year’s event was “Embrace Allamakee County.” Speakers included Val Reinke of Allamakee County Economic Development (ACED); Michelle Crary, Family Nurse Practitioner and the new full-time provider at the VMH Postville Clinic;  Tara Fink, who is the new Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner beginning at Veterans Memorial Hospital October 17; and Michael Coyle, CEO of VMH.

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.

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.

by Jill Fleming, MS, RD/LD, Veterans Memorial Hospital Registered Dietitian

September is Healthy Aging Month and a great time to look at your current lifestyle choices. It is possible to grow old gracefully with just a few tweaks to your life. Here are 10 simple tips to help you continue to feel amazing as you age.