The two Avera employees we’re feating in this story have very different duties, yet both are important. Bonnie Noi Heuan works in food services and Jennifer Miller is at the COVID testing center. Both share a common concern about coming into contact with COVID-19
As you watch Barb Knudtson put on her PPE, you may think she’s about to give medicine to a patient or help with a procedure. Actually, Knudtson is a part of a very valuable team, especially during the pandemic. She’s a custodian at Avera McKennan Hospital at takes her job very seriously.
Having therapy close to home, prevents a long drive, which could cause problems. “As swelling does increase in certain bodies when you’re stuck in a certain position so just the fact that it’s right local, only makes it better for the patient,” said Blom.
"To me, you're a nurse really needs an opportunity to lift up the profession to really help get out the word of the incredible profession that nursing is," said Popkes.
Yeah, so I definitely you’ll probably have to think outside of the box a little bit this year. You could do some virtual options. Maybe host a virtual Thanksgiving. Maybe everyone schedules a time to get on to the zoom and play a board game or do a virtual game together, have the kids make Thanksgiving crafts. Talk about things we’re grateful for this year.
“The Navigation Center is a 24/7 service. It’s staffed with social workers nurses and administrative assistants, so it’s mostly used by our cancer patients who call in and family members can call in too,” said Mitchell.
“It’s very common, as we get older, to lose some of the normal function meaning having accidents or having more urgency or having to go more frequently,” said Dr. Barker.
Our sister hospitals are doing a wonderful job of keeping patients, away from Avera McKennan, and doing their best to offload the tertiary care center that we are, and they are doing that with the best-qualified people that they have.
“You don’t feel anything and when you leave here there’s no pain, got up, and walked out of here and went home and everything’s altogether different than what it was before,” said Axom.
“The prairie center was really to be a beacon of hope. One of our crown jewels of this building is that we had so much patient input into the building,” said Gaster.
Just like I would treat any other part of the body, I’m looking at what’s the muscle function with the skeletal alignment. What’s going on with the nerves and things like that.
We do the procedure and you don’t have to wear the compression therapy. We prevent the development of new varicose veins, skin changes, getting rid of the varicose veins, the cosmetic appeal, preventing the wounds, those types of things.
While some asses the pandemic by available hospital beds, the medical community reveals the true need. Caring for a COVID patients requires a supply of respirators and enough staff to care for the COVID-19 patient. Maintaining enough equipment and staffing levels is a concern.
They both can cause cough and congestion and a low-grade fever. COVID is also associated with more of a longer array of symptoms, such as vomiting, diarrhea, loss of taste, things of that sort.
“You know who wants to have to venture out very far if you’ve got an option right here in town. It’s great for the athletes that are right across the street,” said Rahn.
Particularly during the pandemic, it’s important to know that you don’t have any surprises, and a Medicare supplement plan helps to eliminate any of those surprises.
“This new intracapsular technique I would never go back and I think it’s been one of the better gifts I could give to my patients with tonsil problems. And it’s been a game-changer,” said Dr. Cihak.
There is a 12% lifetime risk in this country of getting breast cancer here in South Dakota our numbers actually run a little higher than the national average.
“You should be able to rely on your agent and your health insurance carrier to speak to you in your plain language, and to explain it to you all those things that maybe you don’t quite understand,” said Reitzel.
“It’s proven that the shots help them fight the diseases that we’ve already learned about and prevent them from getting ill. So, as a mom you just want them to be safe and try to keep worry-free So one last thing we have to worry about,” said Edwards.
It’s often said you know who your friends are when you go through a rough time and it turns out Marlys Thompson had a lot of friends praying for her as she went through breast cancer treatment.
“That’s the beauty about cardiology and interventional cardiology is you can see real-time you know changes and how a patient feels and how well they do you know right in front of your eyes,” said Wagener.
“When I looked around and saw how the machinery was all spaced out, the lockers were spaced out, the classes were spaced out. I lost that anxiety right away. I felt really safe in this environment,” said Wallenberg.
"We have so many ways in which we can enhance the quality of life and, and then the feeling of hope for all these patients and let them know that it's not necessarily the end of everything," said Parameswaran.
“It just made everything easier for us. And so we’re very, very blessed to be able to have that in our home and be able to stay in our home. His condition changes, and this is something that we can keep stable for him,” said Niemann-Priest.
This new intracapsular technique, I would never go back and I think it’s been one of the better gifts I could give to my patients with tonsil problems.
“If you look at the literature, the patients that are going to be at the highest risk of developing, you know, severe COVID infection are going to be the patients that are older than 65 and patients with the chronic medical illnesses,” said Paa.
“The intensity of the storm was significant, but it was no match for the resolve, courage, and the teamwork, of the people within the building,” said Gibbs.
Avera is hosting the fund drive online this year, including a silent auction. The final day is Friday, September 11th. Visit Avera.org to donate or place a bid for The Big Grape, Reimagined: Fund drive for the Avera Children’s Hospital.
“It is a calling you know it’s something because a lot of people say I can’t help with kids at the hospital must be so sad. But indeed it is not always sad. So it’s a great place to be,” said Perkinson. “I’d say, it probably fills my cup that the kids are able to be successful.”
“We want to practice what we preach so we brought it right here so that you don’t have to go to a crowded supermarket you can buy everything you need to eat fresh, wonderful meals,” said Cornay.
For those participating in the study, a lab-created antibody cocktail can be administered by a one time IV infusion. IV therapy could be used for those who have tested positive for COVID-19 who are currently hospitalized or at home.
“We intervene on people having heart attacks. And so that made a huge difference in the amount of muscle we can salvage when people have heart attacks, reduce the death rate significantly,” said Carpenter.
I'm always a promoter of food first, because you're going to get more things than just protein and carbohydrates, you're going to also be getting some great things like calcium zinc, iron, which are really important to our teenagers actually right now because they're growing so much.
During the pandemic, it can be a pretty good feeling to help others by donating blood. Blood drive numbers are low right now because many employers have their staff working at home.
"A bottleneck at the level of the wrist, where there's nine flexor tendons and the median nerve all trying to fit through a small space called the carpal tunnel," said Dr. Drexler.
Avera Child Life Specialist Twila Perkinson offers insight on the transition back to school, processing the concerns and questions during the pandemic, and simple ideas to make the adjustment to having a schedule again.
As we all learn more about back to school plans for our kids and prepare them to return to class, largely in-person, COVID-19 may be front and center. But there are a few other medical concerns you may still need to address. Carleen Wild spoke with Dr. Shari Eich, an Avera Family Medicine Physician about immunizations.
Law enforcement is trained for mental health situations. Having an Avera eCARE behavioral health professional-just one click away provides the next level of care.
“And we try to give them another lease on life so that they’re, they’re healthy they’re happy. Their quality of life is high, and they can see their family and do the things like what she’s doing, which is taking care of her great-grandchildren,” said McCaul.
"And you're feeling alone and isolated. And now that they're able to see their families, there's a smile on their face. They seem much more peaceful there. They see a reason to just keep going," said Ronk.
