News Center newsletter

The Veterans Memorial Hospital Diabetes Support Group will hold its next meeting Thursday, March 19 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. 

This diabetes class is open to everyone who has diabetes or who 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 begin its next series of Prepared Childbirth Education classes (formerly called Lamaze) Monday, April 13, and the classes will continue for two more consecutive Monday evenings, beginning at 6 p.m. in the Large Conference Room.

The Prepared Childbirth Education classes at Veterans Memorial Hospital are offered in three sessions that allow the expectant parents to choose which topics they wish to learn more on. They may choose to attend one, two or all three sessions. Session 1 covers labor, delivery and the postpartum period following delivery; Session 2 includes relaxation, breathing and pain management; and Session 3 covers infant care. Tours of the OB Department at Veterans Memorial Hospital are available with each session as well.

Josh and Whitney Anderson announce the birth of their twin sons, Ridge and Rhett Anderson, born February 19, 2020 at Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, WI. They each weighed 3 lbs.  5 ozs. at the time of their birth. They join siblings Jaxon, Braxton, Tila and Emery.

Grandparents are Tom and Shawny Jones, Joel Anderson and Dawn Teslow. Great-grandparents are Sherri Lewey, Dayton and Kate Jones, Elaine Anderson and Darlene Hartkemeyer. Betty Schwamman of Waukon is a great-great-grandmother.

Amos Flack and Andria McLaughlin of Waukon announce the birth of their daughter, Joanna Mae Flack, born March 6, 2020 at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. She weighed 8 lbs. 2 ozs. and measured 20-3/4 inches in length at the time of her birth. She joins siblings, Austen (20), Molly (15) and Owen (11).

Grandparents are Terry and Joleen Flack of Waukon, Deanna and Wade Hauser of New Hampton and William Martin of Fredericksburg.
 

Brandi Nebendahl of Waterville announces the birth of her daughter, Desiree Lynn Nebendahl, born March 9, 2020 at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. She weighed 7 lbs. 11 ozs. and measured 22 inches in length at the time of her birth. She joins a brother, Dennis Joe (4).

Grandparents are Krista and Randy Nebendahl of Monona. Great-grandparents are Dennis L. and Barb Nebendahl of Waterville and Sherry Schultz of Postville.
 

Upcoming Deadlines/Dates
June 30: 2020 ARCPLC Election
July 15: Crop Certification
September 30: PLC Yield Update

Glomalin, Holding it All Together
by LuAnn Rolling, District Conservationist, Allamakee County
We’ve been talking about healthy soil and soil microorganisms.  One of these is mycorrhizal fungi and how important it is for healthy plant function. This fungi attaches to the plant roots and can grow out from the roots to assist in obtaining nutrients and water. What we haven’t discussed is that this fungi is covered with a special coating called glomalin. This is a sticky compound that keeps water and nutrients from getting lost on the way to and from the plant.

Schools across Iowa closed for four weeks, many events canceled or postponed; Health officials offer guidance

The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) and Allamakee County Public Health have reported Allamakee County’s first cases of COVID-19.

“This investigation has identified two cases of COVID-19 with known international travel exposure,” the joint health departments shared in a jointly-released statement. “One individual is a middle-aged adult between 41-60 years; the other is a child, age 0-18 years. This is not indicative of community circulation of the virus here in Allamakee County. It remains critical that all residents continue to take preventive measures.”

Those preventive measures to help slow the spread of the COVID-19 infection include:

Do not arrive unannounced at healthcare facilities

The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) provided additional guidance to health officials across the state concerning testing for COVID-19 infection, emphasizing that any testing for the virus must be done by the person’s health care provider and that those seeking testing must not go unannounced to their doctor’s office or hospital.

“Individuals need to direct requests to their health care providers for testing of COVID-19 infection,” said Mike Myers, Administrator at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. “Anyone who believes they may need to be tested for COVID-19 should call their health care provider to ask about testing and be prepared to provide details about their symptoms. Do not show up unannounced at a local health facility, as that can spread the virus.”

Large events and mass gatherings can contribute to the spread of COVID-19 in the United States via travelers who attend these events and introduce the virus to new communities. Examples of large events and mass gatherings include conferences, festivals, parades, concerts, sporting events, weddings and other types of assemblies.

These events can be planned not only by organizations and communities but also by individuals.

Therefore, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), in accordance with its guidance for large events and mass gatherings, recommends that for the next eight weeks, organizers (whether groups or individuals) cancel or postpone in-person events that consist of 50 people or more throughout the United States.

Events of any size should only be continued if they can be carried out with adherence to guidelines for protecting vulnerable populations, hand hygiene and social distancing. When feasible, organizers could modify events to be virtual.

The annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade scheduled for Sunday, March 15 in Waukon ended up resulting in much more than its usual show of Irish spirit. Just over an hour before the parade was scheduled to begin, the Waukon City Council met in an emergency session that took some time to arrange due to open meetings quorum requirements and made the unanimous decision to revoke the parade permit based on recommendations for large gatherings made by the Iowa Governor’s Office and the Iowa Department of Public Health following the announcement late Saturday evening, March 14 that the first case had been reported in Iowa of COVID-19 due to community spread - meaning not knowing the origin and not attributable to travel as were the previous 17 cases in Iowa.

Waukon City Councilman John Ellingson provided the following statement in regard to the Waukon City Council’s actions in respect to revoking the parade permit: