Health

Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care/Allamakee County Public Health will continue offering a series of community Flu Clinics over the next few weeks at the following locations in Allamakee County:

The Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital will be holding its annual Pillow Perk this year Monday, October 25 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in 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.

The Veterans Memorial Hospital Waukon Clinic holds a special ‘sick child’ clinic every Monday morning beginning at 7 a.m.  This special clinic time is meant to help accommodate parents who have had a child under the weather over the weekend and wishes to have them seen by a medical provider prior to beginning work Monday morning. It also helps to know if children are well enough to attend school or need to be kept at home.

Evening appointments  are also offered Thursdays until 7 p.m., again for the convenience of those working during the day.

The Veterans Memorial Hospital Medial Clinic is then open from 8-5 p.m. all other days, Monday through Friday.

The hospital’s urgent care clinic also remains available Monday through Friday evenings, from 5-7 p.m., and on weekends and holidays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., for use when the clinic is closed.

Call the clinic at 563-568-5530 for questions and to schedule an appointment.
 

The Veterans Memorial Hospital Diabetes Support Group will hold its next meeting Thursday, October 21, 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. Masks will be required to be worn.

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

Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon will sponsor a Babysitting Seminar Saturday, October 23 for a total of 40 students. This year, the class will be broken down into two different sessions to allow for better spacing of the students. The morning session will be held from 8:30-11:30 a.m. 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 allowed in each session. Both will be held in the Large Conference Room located on the lower level of Veterans Memorial Hospital.

Intended participants are individuals 10 years of age and older who are responsible for their own care after school until their parents come home from work, and individuals who care for other children in or outside of their own home. Girls are not the sole babysitters in this society. Boys are also welcome and encouraged to attend.

The Iowa Department of Public Health recently shared the following points to help explain the newly  approved COVID-19 vaccine recommendations and help individuals see if they meet the requirements.

A third dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is explained as follows:

• Recommended for moderately to severely immunocompromised individuals at least 28 days after receiving the second Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
• Meant for people who have not built strong enough immunity after completing the initial vaccine series.
• Individuals who have any of the following;
- Organ transplant.
- Immunosuppressive therapy.
- High dose corticosteroid use
- Active treatment for solid tumor and hematologic malignancies.

A booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine is recommended for anyone six months after receiving  the two-dose  primary series of Pfizer to boost protection.  Individuals eligible for the Pfizer boost dose include:

An estimated 252,710 new invasive cases of breast cancer are expected to occur among women in the United States during 2020 and about 2,470 new cases of breast cancer are expected in men in 2020. In total, an estimated 40,610 deaths (40,170 women and 440 men) are anticipated from breast cancer in 2020.  These numbers have steadily decreased since 1990. The American Cancer Society states the decrease represents progress in both earlier detection and improved treatment.

The Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) and Elliott Jewelers of Waukon hosted their 16th Annual Women’s Health Day Luncheon Tuesday, September 28 at the Waukon Banquet Center. Over 100 ladies attended the salad luncheon hosted by the Auxiliary members, plus many free health and wellness tests were available. The theme for this year’s event was “Fall for Wellness.” Speakers included Laura Sorensen, MSW, Social Worker at Veterans Memorial Hospital; Craig Lensing of Martin-Grau Funeral Home; Jessica Everman, PA-C of the Gundersen Waukon Clinic and  Michael Coyle, CEO of Veterans Memorial Hospital. Pictured in photo at center, VMH CEO Michael Coyle addresses those in attendance at this year’s event. Val Martin of Steel Cow made a special donation to the event this year of 20 fresh floral arrangements from her fresh flower cart which is located outside the Steel Cow, downtown Waukon. All sale proceeds were given to the Auxiliary.

Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care/Allamakee County Public Health will be offering a series of community Flu Clinics over the next few weeks at the following locations in Allamakee County:

Wednesday, October 6: By appointment only at Veterans Memorial Hospital, 1:30-6 p.m. Call 563-568-5660 to schedule an appointment.

Saturday, October 9: Walk-In Clinic at Waterville Gymnasium Craft Show, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Wednesday, October 13: Walk-In Clinic at Veterans Memorial Hospital, 9-11:30 a.m. and 1:30-4 p.m.

Thursday, October 14: Walk-In Clinic at Northeast Iowa Wellness Center, Postville, 1-4 p.m.

Friday, October 15: Walk-In Clinic at New Albin Town House, 9 a.m. - Noon

Wednesday, October 20: Walk-In Clinic at Harpers Ferry Community Center, 9-11 a.m.

Urgent Care services at Veterans Memorial Hospital were expanded beginning Monday, October 4, for better accessibility for all patients. Now one medical provider is dedicated to just seeing the Urgent Care patients while another emergency provider is dedicated to the emergency room patients. This will greatly lessen the wait times for those seeking Urgent Care.

Veterans Memorial Hospital began offering Urgent Care two years ago. The need for Urgent Care has greatly grown since last spring and many patients have experienced long wait times when the emergency department was also busy with patients. Now Urgent Care will have its own clinical space near the main entrance of the hospital along with its own provider to more quickly triage the patients and cover their medical needs.