http://blogs.e-rockford.com/pulse The Business of Health: Health care is the No. 1 private employer in the Rock River Valley. Deborah Austin covers the business of health: what providers are doing, how the workplace is changing and what consumers need to know. Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:31:49 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en It's hard to say good-bye, but here goes: This is my last day with HealthyRockford.com and at the Rockford Register Star.  I am departing and putting my career on "hold" for awhile to spend more time on some family concerns. I have enjoyed interacting with people in the medical community (while learning a ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/pulse/2008/07/03/a-farewell-post/ Sixty-nine percent of fireworks injuries happen in the month around Independence Day. Forty-three percent of fireworks injuries affect children under the age of 15.  One-third of the fireworks-related eye injuries result in a permanently blind eye.  And don't assume kids are safe with sparklers; they can reach nearly 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit at ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/pulse/2008/07/02/fireworks-and-eyes-keep-it-safe-this-independence-day/ If you don't have health insurance, and are lost in the quagmire of trying to research your options, a program called "Coverage for All" could help. "Coverage For All" is a program of the Foundation for Health Education Coverage, a nonprofit organization that helps uninsured people navigate health care coverage options state by state. The ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/pulse/2008/07/01/health-coverage-info-organized-to-make-sense/ 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 ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/pulse/2008/06/27/crusader-clinic-and-1920s-era-slate-blackboards/ 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 ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/pulse/2008/06/25/the-bridge-clinic-wants-more-people-to-use-its-services-for-free/ 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 ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/pulse/2008/06/23/new-counseling-center-focuses-on-eating-disorders/ 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 ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/pulse/2008/06/20/microbusinesses-say-its-getting-harder-to-offer-employee-health-insurance/ 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 ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/pulse/2008/06/19/now-you-can-get-a-shingles-vaccine-at-a-rockford-walgreens/ 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 ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/pulse/2008/06/18/public-education-site-lets-you-study-up-on-medications/ 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 ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/pulse/2008/06/16/rockford-health-system-employees-receive-disaster-preparedness-handbook/