Health

The Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation annual Three Person Best-Shot Golf Tournament will return this year and is set for June 21 at the Waukon Golf and Country Club.

Teams of three will begin the day with a shot gun start at 9:30 a.m. and play 18 holes of golf. Breakfast rolls, lunch and dinner and prizes for everyone will all be provided for the donation of $75.

All those interested in joining the event are asked to pre-register their team by calling the Waukon Golf and Country Club at 563-568-9939. For more information about the golf tournament, call Veterans Memorial Hospital at 563-568-3411.

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

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 Manger at Veterans Memorial Hospital at 563-568-3411.

The Senior Farmer’s Market Nutrition Program provides coupons (or checks) to older individuals for use at farmer’s markets, roadside stands and community-supported agriculture programs for fresh, nutritious, unprepared, locally grown fruits, vegetables, herbs and honey.

Due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, the checks will be distributed through the mail again this year. Those who have received Farmers Market Checks from Northeast Iowa Area Agency on Aging (NEI3A) in the past will be receiving the required forms in the mail within the next few weeks. Once NEI3A receives the completed forms, the checks will be mailed starting June 1.

Those who have not received Farmers Market Checks in the past and are interested in receiving them should call NEI3A at 1-800-779-8707 and choose option #1.

Eligible participants in the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program must:

Veterans Memorial Hospital is in its 70th year of serving the community.  While the building itself has made many changes, the hospital staff still strives to provide exceptional, compassionate care.

How it All Began… a hospital timeline.
May 22, 1938:  The need for a hospital began with an emergency including seven persons who were seriously injured in a head-on crash near Waukon. The medical office of Drs. Rominger and Jeffries, located above what was Klenske Drug Store and is now Gemini Salon, was immediately furnished with beds so the seven victims could be “hospitalized.”  The medical office continued to serve as the hospital.

1947: The City of Waukon purchased the land for the erection of the first hospital.

Maternity Services patients at Veterans Memorial Hospital will now be allowed to have two visitors at one time visiting a post-partum mother. In addition, any other children in the family will now also be allowed to come in to visit their mom and meet their new brother or sister.

During COVID-19, only the father was allowed to visit the hospital. Now fathers of babies will also be able to come and go from the facility until their child is released from the hospital.

All visitors are still required to screen their temperature when they arrive to the facility and wear a mask.  Anyone with any exposure to or signs or symptoms of COVID-19 will not be allowed to enter the building.  All visitors should enter through the main entrance of the hospital.

COVID Walk-In Vaccination Primary/First Dose Schedule for Allamakee County: Allamakee County Public Health continues to hold weekly vaccination clinics Friday afternoons for both prime and boost doses of Moderna. Currently, Johnson and Johnson one dose vaccine is available.  These clinics are held at the main entrance to Veterans Memorial Hospital. Call 563-568-5660 to schedule.

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

Veterans Memorial Hospital will be hosting the Safety Day Camp for children ages six to 14 Thursday, June 10 at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds in Waukon 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.

During the camp, children participate in interactive activities that reinforce the importance of taking responsibility for their own safety, respecting parents’ safety rules and sharing safety tips with their family and friends. Hands-on demonstrations teach lifesaving first aid techniques and reveal the hidden hazards of children’s surroundings. Camp demonstrations also focus on farm hazards associated with safety.

May 6-12 is National Nurse’s Week. The nursing staff at Veterans Memorial Hospital is all state licensed professionals with specialized training in advanced cardiac life support, pediatric advanced life support, trauma nurse core curriculum, and neonatal resuscitation provider course. They are committed to providing optimal care of patients and their loved ones by creating the best healthcare experience when caring for their friends and neighbors.

There are many levels of care offered by the hospital’s nursing staff including inpatient acute, skilled, observation, monitored cardiac, respite/courtesy care, surgical, home health, hospice and outpatient infusion therapy. These various levels are observed throughout the many nursing departments such as Surgery, Maternity Services, Emergency, Inpatient, Outpatient and Cardiac/Pulmonary.

A generous donation of $5,000 was recently received by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation from Croell Redi-Mix in support of the new Waukon Medical Clinic. The renovations to the clinic are now complete and the clinic is open for appointments. Pictured above, left to right, at the Croell Redi-Mix plant in Waukon are Bill Blake, Tanner Hartema and Luke Howard, all representing Croell, with Craig Lensing, Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation Director. Appointments are now being scheduled by calling the new clinic phone number of 563-568-5530. Donations are still being accepted by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation. All gifts to the Foundation are tax deductible. Submitted photo.

COVID Walk-In Vaccination Primary/First Dose Schedule for Allamakee County: Allamakee County Public Health is holding weekly vaccination clinics Friday afternoons for both prime and boost doses for Moderna. Currently, Johnson and Johnson one dose vaccine is also available. These clinics are held at the main entrance to Veterans Memorial Hospital. Call 563-568-5660 to schedule.

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

5/13/21 - Booster (second) doses for all those who received the Moderna primary (first) immunization 4/15/21, from 8-10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.

5/24/21 - Booster (second) doses for all those that received the Moderna primary (first) immunization at the walk-in clinic in Lansing at Immaculate Conception Church basement April 26. Boosters will be given May 24 from 9 a.m.- Noon at the same location.