Grundy County Memorial Hospital | Live Well | Fall 2019

While the mis- sion of critical access hospi- tals like Grundy County Memo- rial Hospital is to provide lifesaving emergency care in rural areas, our hos- pital is proud to offer a wide variety of health care services that help you stay at home for your care. Health care access is vital to rural communities, and when you choose GCMH for your diagnostic tests, same- day surgery, rehabilitation or emer- gency needs, you are helping to sustain and maintain these services locally. It’s a win-win! Adam Scherling, MHA, GCMH Administrator Your support contributed to a new annual record for patient visits dur- ing our hospital’s fiscal year. Just over 48,000 patient visits took place be- tween July 1, 2018, and June 30, 2019. The great news is that the steadily growing number of people seeking care at GCMH has allowed us to expand access to care. For instance, since the beginning of the year, Digestive Health (gastroenterology) is available weekly, and our new expanded Pain Clinic is serving patients. Access to primary care is increasing, too, as we help welcome Dr. Jeremy Cordes to UnityPoint Clinic– Parkersburg Family Medicine. As a critical access hospital, there are services we are not able to provide—but our partnership with UnityPoint Health gives our patients access to the next level of care when needed. That’s why it’s exciting that UnityPoint Health has announced a partnership opportunity with Sanford Health, based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Sanford Health has a broad network of rural hospitals and is known for a focus on clinical research in breast cancer and diabetes. Together, both organizations seek to become world leaders in personalized primary care. While the prospective merger doesn’t change our day-to-day focus here at our hospital, partnering with organizations that can help rural hospitals maintain access to high- quality care in the most cost-effective way possible helps ensure a sound and sustainable future for our hospital. Please keep your comments and surveys coming—I appreciate your feedback! Keeping your care local helps keep local care available locate. There are times our patient is not able to communicate with us, but when an ambulance crew mem- ber or family member hands us a list of medications and medical history, valuable time is saved.” “I encourage everyone, no matter their age, to complete the form and keep the information up-to-date. The more accurate the information, the faster we’ll be able to get the treat- ment that’s needed,” Heasley says. Emergency vs. urgent In cases of illness or injury, you may question whether an Emergency De- partment visit is necessary. Urgent care clinics are increasingly present in larger communities and provide evening and weekend care. UnityPoint Clinic–Grundy Center Family Medicine is among the clinics that offer Saturday morning walk-in care. Urgent care locations may be a good choice for problems you might other- wise visit your family doctor for during office hours. According to the American Academy of Urgent Care Medicine and other experts, urgent care is appropri- ate for: ●   ● Minor illnesses and injuries ●   ● Colds, fever, flu and earaches ●   ● Sprains and strains ●   ● Rashes When it’s an emergency If you or someone else has an emer- gency, call 911 or go to the Emergency Department. Signs of an emergency include: —Continued from front page ●   ● Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath ●   ● Chest pain or pressure ●   ● Fainting; unconsciousness ●   ● Severe vomiting or diarrhea ●   ● Sudden or severe pain ●   ● Uncontrolled bleeding ●   ● Seizures, confusion or changes in vision ●   ● Numbness that comes on suddenly In addition, if a child is badly injured or becomes seriously ill with- out warning, it is a medical emer- gency. Fast treatment can prevent an illness from getting worse. Also, don’t use urgent care for routine medical appointments. Neither urgent nor emergency care should be used in place of a primary care doctor. Ready for any emergency 2 >> health NEWS