Lifestyle - Health & Wellness Articles

Family Health West working on needs survey

Family Health West is finding out if it’s meeting the needs of the Lower Valley. The Fruita hospital is in the midst of a Community Health Needs Assessment that involves three meetings with stakeholders and a community-wide survey. The first meeting took place April 29 and the other two will take place June 24 and Aug. 12. Meeting participants have already been selected and include local health care and public service representatives who will spent the first meeting discussing ...

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Health and Wellness Briefs, May 28, 2103

Alzheimer’s class today at Bozarth The Alzheimer’s Association will host a class from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today in the community room at Ed Bozarth Chevrolet, 2595 U.S. Highway 6&50. The class will focus on legal and financial planning related to a person with Alzheimer’s. RSVP to 256-1274 or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) //= 0; i=i-1){ if (l[i].substring(0, 1) == ' ') output += "&#"+unescape(l[i].substring(1))+";"; else output += ...

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Report shows plan for healthier Colorado

The state of Colorado hopes to become the healthiest state in the nation by investing in health care, engaging the public in healthy activities and forming public-private partnerships aimed at strengthening health care and insurance coverage and capacity. The office of Gov. John Hickenlooper outlined these goals in a new report released last week, “The State of Health: Colorado’s Commitment to Become the Healthiest State.” In a forward in the report, Hickenlooper wrote ...

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Spa accepting nominations for Body and Soul makeover

Le MedSpa is taking nominations through June 14 for the next round of the Body and Soul Makeover. Paule Stiefler, owner and marketing director of Le MedSpa at 2530 N. Eighth St., Unit 205, launched the first Body and Soul Makeover last summer. The spa accepted nominations from friends and family members of people deserving of a makeover, interviewed the nominees and selected a male winner, a female winner and a runner-up to receive services from a “dream team” of local ...

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Health and Wellness Briefs, May 14, 2013

Physical therapy center joins PCP The Physical Therapy Specialty Center is now a division of Primary Care Partners. The specialty center has been located in the Primary Care Partners building at 3150 N. 12th St. since 2004 but was operated separately from PCP. The practice has seven physical therapists who will remain on staff and continue to see patients from all doctors in the Grand Junction area. Free health screenings for men   All Sam’s Club locations will host free ...

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Race to benefit Silt wildlife foundation

Instead of running from bears, who not run FOR bears? And while you’re at it, why not run for deer and eagles and mountain lions and foxes and other wildlife? The sixth annual 5k Run/Walk for their Lives event on June 1 is a benefit run for the Pauline S. Schneegas Wildlife Foundation in Silt, which provides rehabilitation for injured and orphaned wildlife prior to releasing those animals back into the wild. The non-profit foundation also provides valuable educational programs about ...

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U.S. News awards top marks to 4 area nursing homes

New national nursing home rankings deliver top scores for four area nursing facilities. Eagle Ridge at Grand Valley and Larchwood Inns, both of Grand Junction; San Juan Living Center of Montrose; and Paonia Care and Rehabilitation Center in Paonia each earned five stars overall in U.S. News and World Report’s 2013 Best Nursing Homes Rankings. Lists of the best nursing homes in all 50 states are available at health.usnews.com/best-nursing-homes. U.S. News and World Report ranked ...

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Glenwood surgeon performs tremor-reducing procedure

A Glenwood Springs neurosurgeon provides a rare procedure on the Western Slope — deep brain stimulation. The procedure was developed half a century ago to treat pain but has evolved into a treatment to help steady people with movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, Essential tremor and dystonia. The procedure is being tested elsewhere in people with a range of other issues, ranging from eating disorders to obsessive-compulsive disorder. The deep brain stimulation ...

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Marillac to host 25th gala

The yearlong celebration of Marillac Clinic’s 25th anniversary will continue Saturday with “Miracles at Marillac” at the DoubleTree by Hilton, 743 Horizon Drive. The event will include dinner and a presentation by Vallie Collins. Collins is a Tennessee resident who was a passenger on U.S. Airways Flight 1549, which landed Jan. 15, 2009, in New York’s Hudson River. Collins will speak about how the experience made her appreciate life and embrace every day. The ...

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Cancer study participants needed in Grand Junction

The American Cancer Society is looking for volunteers to participate in a long-term study to aid cancer research. Volunteers for the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Prevention Study-3 need to be between the ages of 30 and 65 and have a medical history clear of any cancer diagnoses. People who have had basal or squamous cell skin cancer are still eligible for the study. Volunteers will be asked to sign a consent form, fill out a small survey, and provide a small blood sample and a ...

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GJ surgeon offers newer hip procedure

Non-arthritic hip pain used to be something people lived with until they got to the point of needing a hip replacement, according to Dr. Kennan Vance, an orthopedic surgeon at Western Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, 2020 N. 12th St. Today, patients can undergo a hip arthroscopy procedure to combat pain caused by bony impingement, hip dysplasia, loose fragments in the joint and other conditions. After the move of another doctor last year, Vance is the only orthopedic surgeon offering ...

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Mesa County encourages rabies safety

The Mesa County Health Department and Mesa County Animal Services want to remind residents to take steps to prevent rabies exposure as the weather warms and people encounter wildlife more frequently while cleaning homes or enjoying the outdoors. Precautions include avoiding feeding or handling unfamiliar feral or domestic animals; closing holes around your home foundation, covering window sills, placing screens on chimneys and vents, and sealing cracks and holes larger than a quarter-inch ...

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Local hospital readmission rates at, slightly above average

Community Hospital is the only area hospital in a new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services report that will not be financially penalized for its patient readmissions rates. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services report tracks readmission rates for more than 3,000 U.S. hospitals over three years. Only heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia patients who returned to the same hospital within 30 days of leaving the hospital were counted in the study. Hospitals with fewer than ...

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Health and Wellness Briefs, April 9, 2013

Free testing to be at 3 locations The Mesa County Health Department will offer free cardiovascular screenings this month from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. April 12, 18 and 25. This Friday’s screening event will take place at The Salvation Army, 1235 N. Fourth St. The April 18 event will take place at Palisade Church of the Nazarene at 3595 Front St. in Palisade and the April 25 event will take place at Supplemental Foods, 200 S. Spruce St. The screenings involve a finger-stick ...

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Mesa County plans for improvement by 2017

The Mesa County Health Department hopes to work with local health and wellness services over the next few years to improve the health of Mesa County residents, according to a new health improvement plan. Eighteen months ago, the Health Department compared dozens of local health statistics with health outcomes statewide. The county performed worse than the state on about 35 health factors, according to Mesa County Health Department Executive Director Jeff Kuhr. A steering committee of ...

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28 Western Slope nurses honored

Twenty-eight Western Slope nurses were nominated this year for the Nightingale Award for excellence in the field of nursing. The awards, named after famously compassionate nurse Florence Nightingale, recognize caring and professionalism in the nursing industry. Award nominees from the western region of Colorado were honored at a gala March 9 at Colorado Mesa University. Five of the nominees — Diana Bailey, Kristin Brim, Penny Crom, Janelle McCormick and Kathleen Wilson — ...

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Colorado earns B+ for adults’ health, lower for children’s

An annual health data report shows Colorado adults score high in numerous health indicators while their younger counterparts lag behind. The 2012 Colorado Health Report Card, released last week by The Colorado Health Foundation, gives a “B+” for the health of Colorado adults and senior citizens and a “B” grade for the health of teens. Data for babies earned the state a “C” on the most recent report card, while Colorado children had the worst health ...

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Hantavirus can come with spring cleaning

The Mesa County Health Department is warning residents to be cautious when spring cleaning in order to avoid contracting Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome. Hantavirus can be spread through the urine, saliva or droppings of infected deer mice (brown except for the white hair on their abdomen) that mixes with dust and dirt. The disease can spread to people, particularly when they inhale particles that contain the virus while cleaning homes, sheds and outdoor structures. The first signs develop ...

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Battlement Mesa area welcomes expanded medical facility

BATTLEMENT MESA — Parachute Mayor Judith Beasley can remember times when there was no health care in the Parachute/Battlement Mesa area. She also recalls when land she stood on last week was mere pasture, rather than Battlement Mesa subdivision acreage where construction has kicked off on a $16 million medical facility being built by the Grand River Hospital District. Beasley was among dignitaries from the two communities who joined in celebrating the start of construction on the ...

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Colorado West gets new medical director

Dr. Roy Sanford Kiser Jr. has waited years to return to the Rocky Mountains. He fell in love with the Rockies as a student at the Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs. That love lingered even after he moved to Texas to complete his undergraduate education in math and chemistry at Abilene Christian College and his psychiatric residency at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. After working as a faculty member at the medical school, researching brain functions ...

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