Health

The local Grief Support Group will hold its monthly meeting at Veterans Memorial Hospital Tuesday, February 13 at 5 p.m. in the Education Conference Room.

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 now meets the second Tuesday of each month at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon.
 

Memorials were received by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation in memory of Joann Welch by Robert and Kristi Campbell, Jim and Jill Kiesau, Jim and Bev Larson Needham, Lillian Larson, Sandy Hosch, Mavis Berns, Craig and Barb Lensing, Angeline Schulte, Jack and Sallie Hagensick, Patsy Kerndt, Lois Evans, Jim and Patty Clarke, Gary and Joan David, and Dave and Laurie Martin.

Memorials were also received in memory of John Tangen by Greg and Jan Gordon, Chuck and Lois Votsmier and Ray and Mary Ann Burke. In addition, memorials were received in memory of Leona O’Regan by Ray and Mary Ann Burke and in memory of Victor and Betty DeBuhr by Dennis and Linda DeBuhr.

The staff of Veterans Memorial Hospital pledged nearly $14,000 this last year to the VMH Health Care Foundation’s annual appeal campaign. The total raised in personal staff contributions was used to purchase equipment and furnishings identified by the staff as needed in the hospital to better serve the community.

“I am impressed and pleased by the staff’s generosity and participation again this last year,” states Mike Myers, hospital administrator. “Our Culture Committee took a leadership role in identifying hospital-wide needs, setting a financial goal, and organizing this employee campaign which was extremely successful. This process is an indication of the great dedication the hospital staff has to the service of our patients.”

This fund drive is held each fall for all staff at Veterans Memorial Hospital and consistently raises over $13,000 each year for upgrades in equipment and furnishings recommended by the staff.

Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon, in cooperation with the American Heart Association, is offering a course in cardiopulmonary resuscitation for lay people (those not working in healthcare), which includes child care providers, Monday, February 12, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

The CPR class, which will cover adult, child and infant CPR, will be held in the ICN Room located on the lower level of the hospital. The cost of the class, for certification or recertification, is the same. The card received with the course does certify attendants in CPR for a period of two years.

CPR is administered when someone’s breathing, pulse, or both, stop. When both of them stop, the victim has suffered sudden death, which can be caused by poisoning, drowning, choking, suffocation, electrocution, smoke inhalation, or the most common cause, heart attack.

Veterans Memorial Hospital is encouraging individuals in the area communities to sign up to participate in Live Healthy Iowa for the next ten weeks. The Live Healthy Iowa web-based program offers many advantages including personal online fitness tracking, weekly motivational emails and unlimited access to recipes, workouts and other health information, all easily accessible on the Live Healthy Iowa website.

Registration for Live Healthy Iowa is going on now. For a small fee, each team member will receive a Live Healthy Iowa t-shirt and a free magazine subscription to one of many popular magazines. To get a team signed up, go to www.livehealthyiowa.org and click the sign-up button.

Blood drive set for February 5

Everyone can make a difference by making a life-saving blood donation at the next Waukon Community Blood Drive. The next blood drive will take place Monday, February 5 from 12 noon to 5 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in south Waukon.

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.  Everyone who registers to donate blood goes through four simple steps during the donation process:  registration, donor history and mini-physical, blood donation and snacks.

Memorials were recently received by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation in memory of Eloise Bulman by Robert and Kristi Campbell, Dave and Laurie Martin, Jim and Patty Clarke, Chuck and Lois Votsmier and family and friends of Delbert and Eloise Bulman.

Memorials were also received in memory of Elaine Bahr by Tom and Karen Regan, John and Lorna Kerndt, Kay Carter, Patsy Kerndt, Jim and Jill Kiesau, Robert and Kristi Campbell and Dave and Laurie Martin.

In addition, memorials were received in memory of Gaylord Schoh by Dave and Rhonda Bahr, Dave and Laurie Martin, Dr. Bill and Libby Withers, Bob and Linda Thompson, Nyles and Ruby Herman, Brian and Denise Wullner, Rupert and Martha Caballero, Ron and Kim Winters, Meg Schaller, Evelyn Gray and Ruby and Tim Schoh.

Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon is encouraging individuals in the area communities to sign up to participate in Live Healthy Iowa for the next 10 weeks, beginning January 22. Live Healthy Iowa offers many wellness advantages for its members including a 10-week long program, a flexible team size, an online option with good technical support, plus professional support and encouragement including weekly wellness tips, exercise videos and a wide array of nutritious recipes.

Registration for Live Healthy Iowa is going on now. Teams can be anywhere from two to 10 members per team. The program is web-based with a personal tracking page that allows everyone to keep their own results right in front of them at all times. The Live Healthy Iowa website also offers unlimited access to recipes, workouts and other health information at any time.

The dry air experienced during the winter months is an integral factor in creating dry skin problems. Heating systems to warm homes and offices, most commonly forced-air heat, wrings even more moisture out of the already dry air. This dry air can take moisture right out of the skin and causes the top layer, which is made up of dead skin cells, to flake.

WHAT CAN A PERSON DO?
1. Use a cool mist vaporizer or humidifier to replace the moisture in the air. Fewer static electricity shocks will be given off of light switches and clothes, especially sweaters, won’t crackle or stick to the body.

The Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital will be holding its monthly Euchre Marathon for all individuals of the community interested Thursday, January 18. Men and women are welcome to attend, even if not an Auxiliary member. The Euchre marathons are held the third Thursday of each month at the Senior Citizens Room at the Waukon Wellness Center.

The Auxiliary’s Euchre Marathons begin at 11:30 a.m. with dinner, if chosen.  Call Northland Agency on Aging at 877-838-8077 if choosing to eat dinner. Card playing will follow at 12:30 p.m. until approximately 2:30 p.m. Anyone wishing to stay and play cards following the Senior Citizens meal is more than welcome to do so. Proceeds go towards the Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital. Prizes will be awarded.

Anyone interested in attending but preferring to play Bridge is also welcome to join in. It is asked that they come with their own table of four players, however.