Cardiac Rehabilitation

Ahhh February, it is the month that is all about “Affairs of the Heart”. Sure Valentine’s Day with its sweet cards and lovely flowers often gets all the attention, but February is about more than romance, it provides us with an excellent opportunity to talk about the heart that really matters- your internal cardiac system.

At Kanabec Hospital, we are here to help you obtain heart health. From the emergency room to the Cardiac Rehabilitation department, Kanabec Hospital has you covered. Ultimately we are a small rural facility and this allows many advantages for our patients. We know each and every one of our patients as an individual. Often our patients know each other. This environment provides a supportive system which helps our patients achieve a healthy heart. We are able to provide individualized education and one-on-one support.

Our emergency department is specially equipped to deal with our cardiac patients. If you are having a heart attack, call 911. The emergency department here at the Hospital has processes in place that can deal with all levels of cardiac events. If needed, you will be sent to a specialized heart center, and, because every moment counts, Kanabec Hospital has a process in place to ensure that you will receive the care you need quickly and safely.

Listen, heart disease is scary! It’s great to know that at Kanabec Hospital you have everything from an emergency department that is equipped and prepared to save your life to a Cardiac Rehabilitation department that ensures you receive the highest quality of therapeutic care. 

For more information on heart disease and the services provided at Kanabec Hospital, contact your primary care provider.

By your friendly neighborhood Cardiac Rehabilitation staff,

Kris, Kathy and Michele

P.S. Check out our video featuring cardiac patient: Don Kaddatz!

What Can We do For You?

We talk a lot about our engagement with and commitment to our community. We are constantly striving to achieve the highest levels of patient care and satisfaction.  The hospital spends countless hours dedicated to the study of how to make patient care better for you…. In all this effort we sometimes forget to ask, what would you like to see?

Everything that we try to accomplish is for the purpose of improving patient care. Many of our initiatives are dedicated to improving clinical outcomes, many more are dedicated to education, prevention, general health and wellness and overall community health.

We have pre-natal classes, post-natal classes; support groups for everything from heart disease and diabetes to care-giving and bariatric support. We hold community health events and educational events; we host speakers on a variety of topics, and we do this all for the benefit of our community.

So we want to know…. What would you like to see? Please respond in the comments section and we will try to implement as many of your suggestions as we can. Thanks for your feedback!

H1N1 (aka Swine Flu)

There has been a lot of talk over the months about the H1N1 virus. Here in Kanabec County the primary resource for information will be our public health office. There is a hotline where they can be reached at 320-679-6464. With that is mind, there are a few things to be aware of: 

• Parents are the first line of defense in protecting children from the flu.
• Keep children out of school when they have flu symptoms
• Be alert for flu-like symptoms in your children – they can’t always tell you when something is wrong.
• Flu symptoms for novel H1N1 flu are generally the same as the symptoms for regular “seasonal” flu:
  • fever
  • cough
  • sore throat
  • runny or stuffy nose
  • body aches
  • headache
  • chills
  • fatigue.
• In some cases, symptoms of novel H1N1 can also include vomiting and diarrhea – which are not typically present with seasonal flu.
• Be sure to tell your school why you are keeping your child home – so they know flu may be circulating in the school.
• Sick children shouldn’t go back to school until 24 hours after their fever goes away – without the help of fever-reducing drugs like Tylenol or Motrin.
• Do not give aspirin to children with flu symptoms – it can cause complications.
• Usually, children with flu symptoms need to stay home for 5 to 7 days.
• While they’re home with flu symptoms, children should generally be kept away from other people – except to get medical care.
• Plan ahead for child care and other arrangements in case you do have to keep your child home with possible flu symptoms during the school year.
• Teach your children how to avoid getting or spreading the flu virus.
  • Teach your children to clean their hands thoroughly and often – using soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub.
    • Some schools are already making plans to make sure they have an ample supply of hand-cleaning supplies – and encourage children to use them.
    • Consider giving your child a small container of alcohol hand-rub to take to school.
    • If you do encourage your child to use hand rub, be sure they know how. It only works if your hands are not visibly soiled.
  • Teach your children to cover their coughs and sneezes – with a tissue if they have one, or by coughing or sneezing into an arm or an elbow.
  • Teach your children not to share personal items that could transmit the flu virus – like drinks, water bottles, food, or eating utensils.
• It is especially important this year for parents to get their children vaccinated against the flu.
• It’s not too early to get a seasonal flu vaccination.

How Can You Help?

When a public health emergency happens, the need for volunteers will be tremendous. Minnesota is looking for people trained in healthcare, public health, and related occupations who are willing to volunteer their skills in the event of an emergency.

We all have a role to play in preparing Minnesota for the challenges of responding to a public health emergency. We need public health and health care professionals, people in allied health, and others. We need everyone who can be part of a health response, regardless of whether they are in a licensed or certified field.

If you work in a health-related discipline, we encourage you to register in Minnesota Responds.

For additional information please visit our list of frequently asked questions.

What's the deal with Digital Mammography?

Kanabec Hospital's latest news is the addition of digital mammography to our women's health services. A particularly timely acquisition given the subject of my previous blog entry. Breast cancer is a  insidious form of cancer that affects one in every eight women and is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women. Early detection has been proven again and again to be the most effective method of prevention, and when detected early the chance for successful treatment is very high.

Mammography is the baseline screening that allows for early detection of breast cancer in women. Traditional mammography involved the use of screen-film, while digital mammography uses computers and specially designed digital detectors to produce images that can be displayed on a high-resolution computer monitor. This allows physicians’ greater control over the image and the ability to manipulate the image, which in turn leads to greater accuracy in diagnosing.

Ultimately, an annual mammogram is one of the most important preventative health screenings that a woman can have. Once a woman turns 35, she should consult with her doctor to schedule her baseline mammogram.