Health

The Veterans Memorial Hospital Medical Clinic-Postville will open next Tuesday, July 5. This clinic is in the former Postville Medical Clinic location at 124 West Green Street, in downtown Postville. Minor renovations to the clinic are now being completed.

The clinic will be open Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. The clinic will remain open over the noon lunch hour, then close from 1-2 p.m. each afternoon.

Michelle Crary, Nurse Practitioner, will be the full-time provider in the Postville Clinic working four days a week. “I am glad to be working closer to home and with an organization that focuses on enhancing the lives of their patients,” states Crary. “I wanted to become a nurse practitioner as I wanted to be able to make more of a difference in my patient’s lives. I am very excited to have the opportunity to be doing just that in my own county and close to home.”

The 29th annual Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation Golf Tournament was held Monday, June 20 at the Waukon Golf and Country Club. Twenty-seven teams of three participated in this tournament. Each team enjoyed 18 holes of golf and also enjoyed lunch and dinner prepared by Rich Schulte, Bud and Marge Strike and Family, and the Foundation Directors.

The Foundation gives credit for the success of this tournament to the many local businesses that provide prizes so everyone participating wins. Plus many businesses serving this area contribute as hole sponsors to the tournament making it an enjoyable, community-wide event.

Every two seconds someone needs blood. The next LifeServe Blood Center blood drive will be held Thursday, July 7 from 12-5 p.m. at 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.

The local Grief Support Group will be holding its monthly meeting at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon Tuesday, July 12 at 5 p.m. in the Meditation Healing Center, located just inside the main entrance of the hospital. Masks will be required.

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, and be sure to wear a mask. All attendees will be able to physically distance during the meeting. This grief support meets the second Tuesday of each month at Veterans Memorial Hospital.
 

Input is still being accepted for the community health needs assessment survey.  This is required every three years of Veterans Memorial Hospital to survey the residents of Allamakee County and the surrounding areas served by the hospital. The intent is to collect a list of the health needs residents feel are most important.  Community Health Needs Assessments gather information to help guide and direct health planning activities.  The hospital is still conducting that survey from now through June 30 and more input is needed from all the area communities.

Information from this survey is compiled and used to update and improve the health plan for the entire service area of the hospital.   The hospital encourages everyone to take a few minutes to complete this important survey so the results can be used to develop a plan to address the outlined health needs.

New behavioral tele-health services are available at the Veterans Memorial Hospital Medical Clinic in Waukon. Taryn Smith, MSN, RN, APRN, PMHNP-BC, FNP-BC, is the new provider who is available, via tele-health, Monday and Wednesday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The contracted tele-health company, Array, provided the clinic with this provider who specializes in psychiatry and can help with medication management.

Smith is employed as a Nurse Practitioner providing scheduled care telepsychiatry services through Array Behavioral Care. She is double-board certified as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP-BC) and Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP-BC), accredited nationally through the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).

Veterans Memorial Hospital has expanded its massage therapy hours with a full-time therapist, allowing services and scheduling to be more readily available. With the addition of full-time therapist Shannon Bernatz, LMT, the hours of availability for scheduling a massage have greatly expanded. Hours for scheduling a massage now include: Mondays 8 a.m.-8 p.m., Tuesdays 8 a.m.-8 p.m., Wednesdays 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Thursdays 8 a.m.-5 p.m., and Fridays 8 a.m.-5 p.m.  Massages are available in 30-minute, 60-minute and 90-minute increments.

The benefits of massage therapy include decreasing anxiety, enhancing sleep, increasing energy, improving circulation, improving concentration and reducing fatigue, among others.

The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) reminds Iowans to take measures to avoid serious health problems associated with summer heat. Serious health complications from heat include exhaustion, stroke and dehydration.

Heat exhaustion occurs when sweating, the body’s cooling system fails to eliminate heat fast enough. The first signs of heat exhaustion are faintness, rapid pulse, flushing or reddening of the skin, and often accompanied by stomachache or headache. When heat exhaustion symptoms occur, stop all activity and drink liquids such as water or re-hydrating fluids (Gatorade, Powerade, or for children, Pedialyte). Do not drink alcohol, coffee or caffeinated soft drinks. If possible, take a cool shower.

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

Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon invites the community to attend the next LifeServe Blood Center Blood Drive to be held Thursday, July 7 from 12-5 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in south Waukon. Blood drives are held once per month in Waukon. 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.

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 June. 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 June and beyond, call Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care at 563-568-5660.