Health

by VMH Community and Home Care and the Iowa Department of Public Health
 
Public health plays an important role in Iowa’s high standard of living. The goal of public health is helping to create an environment where people can live in good health. Public health helps make good health happen in Iowa’s homes, neighborhoods, schools and workplace.

Public health is more than just state and local government agencies. The public health community works together to fight disease and promote healthy lifestyles through the use of nutrition education, physical activity, immunization clinics, disease surveillance  and home nursing and home care aide visits.

by Carol Gaunitz, RN, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner
 
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Every 68 seconds an American is sexually assaulted.

At Veterans Memorial Hospital, we have specially trained nurses who can provide confidential, compassionate, holistic care and support after a sexual assault. Exams are free of charge and can include a head-to-toe exam to look for injuries, medication to treat and prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV, emergency contraception to prevent pregnancy and forensic evidence collection. Patients can participate in as much or as little of the exam as they choose.

The local Grief Support Group will be holding its monthly meeting at Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Tuesday, April 9, at 5 p.m. in the Meditation Healing Center, located just inside the main entrance of the hospital.

This informal meeting is open to anyone suffering from any type of loss, whether it be death, divorce, illness or some other grief.

Feel free to attend and bring a friend. This grief support group meets the second Tuesday of each month at 5 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Hospital.
 

The Veterans Memorial Hospital Diabetes Support Group will hold its next meeting Thursday, April 18, at 10 a.m. The meeting will be held at Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) in the Large Conference Room, located on the lower level of the hospital.

This diabetes class is open to everyone who has diabetes or who has a friend or loved one who has diabetes.  For more information on the Diabetes Support Group, call  Angie Mettille, RN, at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon at 563-568-3411.
 

Veterans Memorial Hospital Speech - Language Pathologist Steven Mazzafield will offer the next Stroke Support Group for individuals who have experienced a stroke, as well as caregivers and family members affected by stroke, Thursday, April 4 at 2 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH). The meeting will be held in the ICN Conference Room at the hospital.

The Stroke Support Group provides opportunities to share tips, tricks, or trials among participants, offer support for caregivers, and provide an opportunity for socialization.

While strokes can happen at any age, risk of stroke is greatest as people get older with the majority of strokes occurring after the age of 70. Risk factors for stroke include obesity, sedentary lifestyle, binge drinking, diabetes, smoking, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.

It is important to know the signs of a stroke. “BE FAST” is a handy acronym to help remember the following:

March is National Athletic Training Month. Veterans Memorial Hospital has three athletic trainers on staff including Brad Krambeer, ATC, LAT; Austin Troendle, D-PT, ATC, who is also a Doctor of Physical Therapy; and Shelly Valley, PT-A, ATC, who is also a Physical Therapist Assistant. These trainers use their variety of skills to rehabilitate athletes, often communicating with the physicians to help coordinate the best recovery.

Athletic trainers help treat and prevent injuries for people of all ages, from athletes to laborers.  They specialize in the assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of physical injuries to the muscle, ligament and bone, as well as rehabilitation following surgery. Athletic trainers are also key in teaching injury prevention by explaining flexibility exercises, proper use of equipment and applying prevention devices such as tape, bandages and braces.

March is National Social Work Month. Tatum Iverson is the full-time social worker at Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH). Her role is very large, touching most every patient’s care who enters and leaves the hospital.   She works closely with hospital staff, patients, their families and their insurance companies to coordinate the proper levels of care needed and be sure these are approved.

If the patient is already at VMH under acute care, Tatum can help transfer that level of care to skilled care for things like physical/occupational/speech therapy or longer-term IV antibiotics, prior to being able to return home.  If a patient would benefit from staying in a hospital for skilled care following a hospitalization or surgical procedure, the patient can ask for a referral to be made to Veterans Memorial Hospital’s Swing Bed program.  Tatum then handles these referrals to be sure the patient is accepted by their insurance carrier.

Beginning Monday, April 1, Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) and Clinics will begin to collect the co-pay from patients at the time of their appointments. This will only apply to patients who have a health insurance plan that includes a co-pay option. Patients are encouraged to review their health insurance plans to know if their plan has a co-pay option or not.

“It’s so important that patients take the time to review their health insurance plan closely to see what their benefits truly are and if they have a co-pay for certain services. If they don’t have a co-pay on their plan, then they will be billed as normal and will not need to pay the day of service,” explains Denise Wullner, Business Office Supervisor at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. “We are finding that many patients are being confused by commercials and the word advantage in their health insurance plan.”

Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Speech-Language Pathologist Steven Mazzafield will offer the next Stroke Support Group for individuals who have experienced a stroke, as well as caregivers and family members affected by stroke, Thursday, April 4 at 2 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Hospital. The meeting will be held in the ICN Conference Room.

The Stroke Support Group provides opportunities to share tips, tricks, or trials among participants, offer support for caregivers, and provide an opportunity for socialization.

While strokes can happen at any age, risk of stroke is greatest as people get older with the majority of strokes occurring after the age of 70. Risk factors for stroke include obesity, sedentary lifestyle, binge drinking, diabetes, smoking, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.

The next LifeServe Blood Center blood drive will be held Monday, April 1, from 12-5 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in south Waukon. The LifeServe Blood Center supplies Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) with blood and blood products.