Archive for June, 2008
June 27th, 2008
Crusader Clinic is renovating — and that’s where the blackboards come in. By the way, there are 14 of them, and they’re available for a donation.
Here’s how it came about. Crusader’s building at 1200 W. State St. in Rockford used to be Muldoon High School, a Catholic girls’ school. The school started in 1929 and operated there until 1979.
Now Crusader Clinic is renovating the entire third floor of the building, and has removed the original slate blackboards from the walls. They are 78 inches wide and 47 inches deep, and Crusader wants to recycle them by making them available to people in the community. All it asks is a donation to the Crusaders Health Foundation, and that you be able to transport the blackboard (or blackboards) of your choosing.
Four sets of 1920s-era metal school lockers also are available.
If you’re interested in owning one of these pieces of Rockford history, call Linda Niemiec, vice president of development for Crusader Clinic at 815-490-1621.
June 25th, 2008
Every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Rockford’s First Presbyterian Church, 406 N. Main St., doctors and caregivers from Rockford Health Physicians volunteer their time to staff The Bridge Clinic. The idea is to provide free limited medical care to people age 18 and older who have immediate medical needs but no insurance. These people may not seek needed treatment because of money concerns.
Since the clinic launched in January it has averaged only 3 or 4 patients a week, said Michelle Strand-Dorsey, social worker with Rockford Health System. “I wish we had more people coming in,” she said. “We’re trying to get the word out, ’We’re here,  we really want to help people.’”
The Bridge Clinic’s original intent was to provide treatment for working people who are uninsured, Strand-Dorsey said. ”I’m seeing an increase in the number of people who have recently lost their insurance,” she told me this week. “They’re just trying to make their mortgage payments so they don’t lose their homes.”
The clinic treats such issues as high blood pressure, diabetes control and bad coughs. Doctors will provide prescriptions for low-cost medicines such as antibiotics, Strand-Dorsey said. It does not deal with narcotics or injectables. “We usually write prescriptions off the $4 list,” she said.
That’s not where it ends. The clinic intends to be “a bridge from no care to get you linked to appropriate care,” Strand-Dorsey said. “We refer people to Crusader Clinic or whatever program might be most appropriate for them.”
June 23rd, 2008
People who have been diagnosed with an eating disorder may feel they need to take another step, finding someone to help them get a handle on their body image issues. To provide that specialized type of counseling, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor Erin Wiler has opened the Eating Disorders Resource Center in Rockford.
Wiler — director of the center and a native of the Rockford area — opened the center in April. She offers in-office counseling, education and prevention programs for people with eating disorders. Most insurance plans are accepted at the center, she said.
Down the road, she plans to start offering free seminars on topics such as preventing childhood eating problems and helping your teenager beat an eating disorder. And she intends to offer educational programs in schools to promote healthy lifestyles and body acceptance. She said she takes a non-dieting, “health at every size approach.
June 20th, 2008
The percentage of microbusinesses who offer employee health insurance has declined nationwide since 2005, according to a recent survey by the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE). High costs still are the biggest barrier, the businesses said.
The association classifies microbusinesses as those with 10 or fewer employees. It surveyed 4,000 of the companies this year as a followup to a 2005 survey on the same topic.
Some of the results:
* This year, only 18.6 percent of the responding businesses said they offer health insurance coverage for their employees, down from 46.2 percent in 2005.
* Â Conversely, companies with gross sales under $50,000 saw the greatest increase in health insurance coverage. Of 2008 respondents, 40 percent said they offer employee health insurance compared with 13.8 percent in 2005.
* More than 65 percent of responding companies said cost was the most significant barrier to offering that insurance.
You can see a more detailed summary of the survey here.Â
June 19th, 2008
The Take Care Health Clinics in Walgreens stores nationwide — including the one at 3336 11th St. in Rockford — have started offering shingles vaccinations. Shingles is caused by the same virus as chickenpox, and remains dormant in the central nerves of your system if you’ve ever had the disease even years ago. The virus can become active later in life, causing a painful rash or tingling and burning of the skin.
 In fact shingles is much more common in adults over the age of 50 than with younger people. Age, stress, and immune system problems can increase your chances of developing shingles.  (I know. I had shingles myself a few years ago. I didn’t get a huge rash, just a few spots, but boy did it hurt.)
At Take Care Health Clinics, the shingles vaccine is covered by Medicare Part D for those who qualify. It also may be covered by your pharmacy benefit, but coverage depends on your individual health plan. For uninsured patients or self payers the vaccination costs $219.99. The clinics are open seven days a week, and do not require appointments.
June 18th, 2008
If you’re looking for a place to do research on medications, Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs lets you study up on dozens of them by name or by condition — from Ambien to Zyrtec, and ADHD to ulcers. The Web site is a public education project of an independent, nonprofit organization called Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports.
The mission of the Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs project, according to the site, is to give consumers enough information to talk with their doctors about which drugs may best meet their medical needs and give them the most value for their money. When you click on links to various medications or conditions, you can get overviews on drugs’ effectiveness, track records, safety, prices and generic recommendations.
You can look at short summaries on each drug or condition, or download full reports in pdf format. Summaries are available in English and Spanish.
Consumers Union accepts no outside advertising, and the Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs project is funded mostly by educational grants, according to the Web site. Each analysis on the site is based on reviews done by teams of physicians and researchers at several medical schools under the Drug Effectiveness Review Project (DERP), a 13–state effort. The states use the information to help guide their Medicaid drug coverage policies, according to the site. Researchers at the Oregon Health & Science University coordinate the project.
June 16th, 2008
Employees at Rockford Memorial Hospital need a special level of disaster preparedness. Their hospital is the one designated by the State of Illinois to take the lead in coordinating healthcare during a community disaster. And it is the only such hospital, called a “POD Hospital,” in a nine-county area of northern Illinois.
So Rockford Health System has created an Employee Disaster Preparedness handbook, with help from a federal grant. It is the first such handbook published by the health system. Employees received the handbook in early June, at home through the mail.
Should such a disaster strike, employees may need to come to work under tough circumstances and “must also be able to provide for their own families,” said Chris Bellone, POD Hospital Disaster Coordinator for Rockford Memorial Hospital.
To that end, the Employee Disaster Preparedness handbook includes details on subjects such as staff and family support; care of children, elderly family members and pets; items needed at home; guidelines for reporting to work; and assignment of personnel under the Rockford Health system mass casualty plan.
As a POD Hospital, Rockford Memorial is responsible for disaster healthcare coordination in Jo Daviess, Stephenson, Winnebago, Boone, Carroll, Ogle, DeKalb, Whiteside and Lee counties.
June 13th, 2008
Crusader Clinic will hold its first-ever winetasting fundraiser — which also is its first-ever summer fundraising event — from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on July 12, said Vice President Development Linda Niemiec. The event will be at the University Club of Rockford, 945 N. Main St. It will include wine, hors d’oeuvres and music by local artist Dan Voll.
It also will include an auction with wine baskets, special bottles of wine and an original painting by local artist and former Rockford Park District Board Commissioner Charlotte Hackin.
 ”We thought this would be a nice way to reconnect with people in the summer,” Niemiec said. Funds raised will go for special needs at Crusader, she said.
Cost to attend is $30 per person or $50 per couple. The reservation deadline is July 9. For more information, call the Crusaders Health Foundation at 815-490-1620.
June 12th, 2008
Don’t be alarmed Friday, June 13Â if you overhear radio calls or chatter about a serious epidemic that just hit Rockford.
The epidemic is not real, but the calls will be. And they will be part of a very serious effort. The Winnebago County Health Department and dozens of local agencies will be doing a full-scale exercise to simulate what would happen if a real epidemic hit the Rock River Valley. They plan to test their preparedness on many levels for an honest-to-goodness health emergency.
I’ll be one of the media members at the scenario. Not even those in charge will know the identity of the infectious agent until Friday; that’s part of the exercise design. If a true health emergency hit, it probably wouldn’t come knocking politely. Local officials might not get any advance warning then, either.
In fact the scenario is so reality-oriented that media people covering the event must be credentialed and escorted by officials upon arriving. That’s part of the exercise also; the health department and local law enforcement agencies are testing the way they would coordinate with media members in a true emergency.
It should be interesting. We’ll keep you posted on HealthyRockford.com.
June 11th, 2008
As part of Rockford Health System’s annual Employee Appreciation Week, it told workers to leave their jobs Tuesday.
Leave them long enough, that is, for a picnic lunch or dinner. First- and second-shift employees had picnics during their respective shifts, while third-shift workers had a celebratory meal in the hospital cafeteria during the wee hours, said spokesman Mike Wiltse. The picnic is a 20-year tradition, he said, to thank employees for their work and dedication.
Throughout this week, employees receive a small appreciative token every day. Wednesday everyone got a packet of wildflower seeds, Wiltse said. Friday night will be an anniversary dinner for employees and ex-employees who have been there at least 20 years.
Rockford Health System is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year.
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