Health

This bench was donated for the new Veterans Memorial Hospital Medical Clinic in Waukon by the Virginia Roe family in her memory.  Virginia was a dedicated RN who worked many years at Veterans Memorial Hospital and Allamakee County Public Health and utilized the hospital as a patient in her later years. She passed away in 2020. Pictured are her four children around her bench, from left to right, Chris (Roe) Anthony, Bill Roe, John Roe and Sue (Roe) Schulte. Submitted photo.

The COVID-19 virus is still on the move through unvaccinated individuals in the county, but those that are vaccinated are now able to do more and limit time spent wearing masks. According to the CDC, once vaccinated for COVID-19, you can again gather indoors without masks with others who are fully vaccinated, and limit social distancing. This can begin two weeks following your second or final COVID-19 vaccination. Keep using all personal protective tools until that two week wait time has expired.

For those not yet vaccinated, Allamakee County Public Health does have a good supply of vaccine and is highly encouraging everyone to receive it.

Vaccine clinics are readily available every Friday afternoon for both prime and boost doses for Moderna. Currently, Johnson and Johnson one dose vaccine is also available. These are held at the main entrance to Veterans Memorial Hospital. Call 563-568-5660 to schedule.

by Steven Mazzafield, Speech-Language Pathologist at Veterans Memorial Hospital

“I don’t need a Speech Therapist. I talk fine!” You would be surprised how often I hear this when I go in to see a new patient in the hospital.

When most people think about a Speech Therapist, they typically imagine someone who works with young children in a school, teaching them to say specific sounds such as the “s” and “r” sounds. And you would be right to think this; 51% of Speech-Language Pathologists, or SLPs for short, work in a school compared to only 39% that work in a medical setting such as a hospital or nursing home.

The Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation’s 28th Annual Benefit Golf Tournament will be held Monday, June 21, at the Waukon Golf and Country Club beginning with a shotgun start at 9:30 a.m. Teams of three will play 18 holes of golf. Breakfast rolls, lunch, dinner and prizes for everyone will all be provided for the donation of $75.

This is the 28th annual golf tournament the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation has sponsored.  All those interested are asked to pre-register their team by calling the Waukon Golf and Country Club at 563-568-9939. The Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation is a volunteer board who raise funds to help promote health care in the area communities served by Veterans Memorial Hospital.

The next LifeServe Blood Center blood drive will be held Monday, June 7, 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 their blood and blood products.

The local blood drives continue to be held during COVID-19 since the need for blood is in more demand than ever. Life Serve team members only report to work if they are healthy and only healthy donors are eligible to give blood. Blood drives are essential medical services and not considered mass gatherings. The number of donors is limited to ensure donor separation and staff has strict cleaning and disinfection schedules. Other measures are also in place to ensure the safety of the blood supply so these lifesaving donations can continue during COVID-19.

Veterans Memorial Hospital will hold a Prepared Childbirth Education class (formerly called Lamaze) Saturday, June 26, from 8 - 11 a.m. in the Large Conference Room.

The Prepared Childbirth Education classes at Veterans Memorial Hospital are now offered in one half-day session. Tours of the OB Department are available with these sessions as well.  These Prepared Childbirth Education classes are available for a small fee per session and will be offered every three months at Veterans Memorial Hospital. Following the June 26 class, the next class is scheduled for September 25.

Preregistration is necessary, as seats are limited. To register, email childbirth@vmhospital.com or contact Jayne McCormick, RN, Nursing and OB Manager at Veterans Memorial Hospital at 563-568-3411.

The COVID-19 virus is still on the move through unvaccinated individuals in the county. Allamakee County Public Health does have a good supply of vaccine and is highly encouraging everyone to receive it. Vaccine clinics are readily available every Friday afternoon for both prime and booster doses for Moderna. Currently, Johnson and Johnson one dose vaccine is also available. These are held at the main entrance to Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH). Call 563-568-5660 to schedule.

The COVID Vaccination Booster/Second Dose Schedule at Veterans Memorial Hospital is as follows:

Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) will be hosting the Safety Day Camp for children ages 6 to 14 Thursday, June 10, at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds from 8:15 a.m. to 2 p.m. The camp is open to all children in the area and it instructs many areas of safety in every child’s life.
Children often see the outdoors as an exciting playground that provides endless hours of fun and adventure. But the great outdoors can set the stage for tragedy. That is why this Safety Day Camp was established by Veterans Memorial Hospital and the Iowa State University (ISU) Extension Allamakee County Office 21 years ago.

The Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) made a very generous $10,000 contribution to the new Medical Clinic last week, bringing the total raised to over $450,000. Members of the Auxiliary of VMH are pictured above, left to right, front row, Donnalee Osland, Auxiliary Treasurer; Lillian Larson, Helen Knuppe, Jane Butler, and Meg Schaller and back row, is Bev Larson-Needham, Auxiliary President, presenting the check to Liz Hoins, Executive Assistant, and Laura Baxter, RN, Clinic Director. Also pictured is Sue Blagsvedt and Nona Sawyer, both Auxiliary and Foundation Directors, and Ann Roed, Auxiliary Secretary. The new clinic opened last week with all appointments completely full for the entire week. The clinic schedulers do reserve a few spots each day for those with an acute illness or issue that needs medical attention the same day, but also take appointments for months in advance as well.

The LifeServe Blood Center reported a huge number of donors at the special memorial blood drive, held April 21, for Julie Christensen at the Waukon Wellness Center. 72 units of blood were collected with 28 of them being first time donors. This is nearly twice the size of the regular monthly blood drive in Waukon. These donors are now encouraged to continue with regular blood donation as the need for blood is always there.

The next blood drive will be held Monday, June 7, 2021, from Noon to 5 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in south Waukon. The LifeServe Blood Center is always welcoming new blood donors to donate. 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.

Here are some interesting blood facts from the Blood Center of Iowa: