November is American Diabetes Month
For those who live with it every day, coping with diabetes can be a challenge. That may be why the American Diabetes Association chose November – the month with the most famous day of the year for eating huge, unhealthy amounts of food – to promote national diabetes awareness.
Some 6 million people in the U.S. have undiagnosed diabetes. It’s a very serious, life-threatening disease if not treated appropriately, says Donald Lamoureaux, DO, a board-certified family practice physician at Missouri Southern Healthcare. As many as two out of three people with diabetes die from heart disease or stroke, and the disease is the leading cause of kidney failure, according to the ADA. “But it’s also a highly treatable, controllable disease,” says Dr. Lamoureaux, “and there are more options available now than ever before, especially with early detection and treatment.”
Review these symptoms and share with friends and loved ones in case someone you know is suffering from undiagnosed diabetes.
SYMPTOMS OF DIABETES
- Excessive thirst and increased urination
- Fatigue
- Unexplained weight loss
- Blurred vision
- Frequent infections or slow-healing sores
- Tingling hands and feet
- Red, swollen and tender gums
Call Missouri Southern Healthcare at (573) 624-5566 to learn more about diabetes and schedule a screening with a qualified provider.
Missouri Southern Healthcare's Bernie Clinic recently opened under the leadership of Bernie native, Cara Dillinger, F.N.P. A ribbon cutting and open house are planned for October 9 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Hotdogs, chips and soda will be served. The clinic is located at 810 North Walnut Street and is accepting appointments by calling 573-293-5336. MSH Bernie Clinic is open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily.
Missouri Southern Healthcare invites you out to celebrate the new addition to the MSH family of clinics. MSH now operates eight clinics across the community, including Dexter Internal Medicine Group, MSH Family Medical Care, Dexter Children's Clinic, The Clinic at Walmart and MSH General Surgery located here in Dexter, MSH Bloomfield Family Clinic in Bloomfield, MSH Malden Clinic and now MSH Bernie Clinic.
DEXTER, Mo. – Missouri Southern Healthcare in Dexter hosted Gov. Jay Nixon today as MSH was honored as one of the eleven rural hospitals throughout Missouri to receive the MoBroadbandNow grant. Thanks to this $262,000 grant initiative, Missouri Southern Healthcare will being to expand and improve their digital technology procedures in Dexter and their surrounding facilities.
“One of the very real benefits of improved broadband service in rural Missouri is in telemedicine – connecting Missourians and their physicians with specialists many miles away who can look at high-resolution images and receive other vital information on a real-time basis to help doctors treat those patients,” Gov. Nixon said. “Expanded broadband accessibility between healthcare providers will mean access to quicker and more specialized care that is often life-saving for patients.”
Amy Akers, Chief Executive Officer at Missouri Southern Healthcare, was on hand to share her excitement regarding the significance of this award to rural heathcare and the future operations of MSH. She acknowledged the communities support and the contributions of the Missouri Southern Healthcare staff in bringing this grant to our local hospital.
"We are grateful the Governor and his team recognize the great positive impact this organization has on our rural community, and their financial support will help us continue our work," added Akers.
Akers specifically pointed out that Jeff Miller, Christie DeArman and Josh Miller were instrumental in the submission for the grant under the MoBroadbandNow program. Josh is a Dexter native and controller at Missouri Southern Healthcare. Christie is the Director of Quality Improvement. Jeff Miller is the Director of IT and was able to formulate the grant submission on a short timeline to achieve this award.
Missouri Southern Healthcare, formerly known as Dexter Memorial Hospital, is a 50-patient bed acute care hospital with six rural health clinics. The hospital is receiving a grant of up to $25,000 to help increase broadband speed throughout its healthcare system and to expand its connectivity with the clinics.
“I commend Missouri Southern Healthcare and the other rural hospitals for their efforts to use these benefits as part of their healthcare missions,” the Governor said. “We continue to see how MoBroadbandNow has benefited Missouri in healthcare, education, public safety and commerce, and will do so for decades to come.”
The grants, which come from a federal grant to the state of Missouri as part of its state broadband plan, will be distributed in seven installments between Dec. 1, 2012 and July 31, 2014.
Gov. Nixon launched the MoBroadbandNow initiative in 2009 to greatly expand broadband to reach more homes, businesses, schools, health care facilities, and public safety agencies. Over the next few years, Missouri will see a total investment of more than $310 million to expand broadband throughout the state, through a combination of federal, state, local and private sector resources, including more than $192 million in competitive federal funding obtained by the state of Missouri and its private and local partners.
The press conference will begin at 10:15 this morning, September 5th, 2012 in the main entrance lobby of Missouri Southern Healthcare. Refreshments will be offered immediately following the presentation.
Grant funding will help to expand and enhance broadband accessibility and adoption specifically in regard to the support of utilizing electronic healthcare record management. The transition from a paper based system to an electronic system is a large undertaking that requires added equipment and process for your local hospital. This change in operations delivers a host of efficiencies to our community and the patients of MSH.
The Rural Health Broadband Initiative supports rural hospitals and health clinics in under served cities and towns with the last-mile connection and ongoing service. Healthcare professionals and providers need access to broadband to offer telemedicine services, electronic health record management, patient registration and data collection, digital imaging and transmission, professional development and training along with other applications through online resources.
For more information about today's event, contact Amy Ellinghouse, Marketing Director, at 573.614.1970.
Amy Ellinghouse of Missouri Southern Healthcare.
Dr. Ronald T. Hill was the son of Thurston S. Hill III and Mary Ann Hastings Hill. Many of your may remember T. S. Hill was legendary school administrator for the Dexter Public Schools and an equal community contributor to Dexter. Other may realize that our Middle School building bares Dr. Hill's fathers name.
Like his father, Dr. Hill was a true icon in the Dexter community throughout the 70's, 80's and 90's. He returned home to Dexter in 1971 to begin his private practice. He tirelessly dedicated himself to the development, advancement and expansion of the Dexter Memorial Hospital (now MO Southern Healthcare). Serving for many years as Chief of Staff of the hospital, Dr. Hill made the same high end contributions to our medical community that his father made to the development of our excellent school system.
A graduated of the University of Missouri Medical School in 1964, he served his internship and general surgery residency at Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Dr. Hill served two years in the U.S. Army, where he was a surgeon in a MASH unit during the Vietnam War. He was the recipient of the Bronze Star and Vietnam Bronze Star.Some will remember Dr. Hill's contributions to the community from different angles. "Doc", as he was affectionately known by many DHS Athletes, served as the athletic physician at Dexter High School. Others will remember his contributions at First Baptist Church where he served as a deacon, Sunday School Teacher, choir member and a leader in the Men's Prayer Groups.
Dr. Hill left this life in 2002 at the age of 63, but his legacy remains in the name of the Ron & Donna Hill Classic. Dr. Hill understood the difficulty small communities experienced in attracting physicians back to small rural communities. With many opportunities laid before him in 1970, he dedicated his life to our community. This memorial tournament carries forward Dr. Hill's mission of providing quality health care in Stoddard County. The passion lives through scholarships provided to medical professionals who wish to further their education within their field.
Organizers this year of the tournament were Amy Ellinghouse, her husband, Dave Ellinghouse, and Robert Shell. They would like to thank the many sponsors and supporters of this event. The tournament continues to be a strong important contributor of our community.
Hidden Trails golf pro John Barge would like to remind area golfers that the Labor Day Scramble will take place on Monday, September 3rd. The cost is $10 per person and interested members should contact John at the club to get signed up.
