News

Grace Cottage’s Louise McDevitt Publishes Book

| News

Grace Cottage Hospital Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Louise McDevitt is the author of a new book for clinical practitioners.

Orthopedic Physical Assessment, published by Fitzgerald Health Education Associates and co-authored by McDevitt and FNP Monica Tombasco, is a reference guide to help medical students and seasoned clinicians alike with orthopedic diagnosis and treatment.
The guide is a spiral-bound book in cue-card format, making it easy to find information quickly. It provides a comprehensive compendium, with diagrams, glossary, and references for further information.

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Chiropractor Doucette Joins Grace Cottage

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Chiropractor Michele Doucette now offers appointments at Grace Cottage on Tuesday mornings.

Dr. Doucette also practices chiropractic medicine at her office in Wilmington three days a week. By adding appointments in Townshend, her goal is to provide easier access for some people.

“I see patients from all over southern Vermont, and some of them travel quite far for the combination of services I offer. I’m happy for this opportunity to offer a new location to existing patients and to see new patients as well,” she said. “I really appreciate Grace Cottage for their openness to provide patients with alternatives in complementary medicine and integrative care.”

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Caring for Your Heart

| Graceful Health

By Dr. Maurice Geurts, Grace Cottage Family Health

February is the month of Valentine’s Day, when we focus on emotions of the heart. February is also American Heart Month, a time when we are encouraged to consider the mechanics of this important organ.

Fortunately, most of the time, our hearts do their work silently and reliably, without any effort on our part. We shouldn’t take them for granted, though. Our hearts do need our attention, as certain lifestyle behaviors do often lead to malfunction.

The most common disease of the heart is the one over which we have the most control.

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Train for ‘Spring Into Health 5K’

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Want to get started running, but not sure how to do it safely? The Grace Cottage “Couch to 5K” group is designed for you!

Grace Cottage Family Health and Hospital is hosting the “Spring Into Health 5K” in Townshend, VT, on Saturday, May 13. Grace Cottage Nurse Practitioner Jorda Daigneault will be leading a “Couch to 5K” (C25K) preparation-support group for eight weeks in March, April, and May.

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Challenge Yourself: Get Ready for the 5K

| Graceful Health

By Jorda Daigneault, Grace Cottage Family Health Nurse Practitioner

Think you can’t run a 5K? You’re not alone. And yet, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest otherwise.

Take, for example, this story from the home page of the “Couch to 5K” website:

“With the help of the Couch to 5K program, in less than seven months, I went from a 47-year-old, 104kg, 30 cigarettes a day sort of guy, to an 82kg, 0 cigarettes, running 45 to 50 kilometers a week sort of guy. Ten months after finishing C25K I completed my first marathon. Since then I have run another 5 marathons, as well as 9 ultra-marathons including three over 100km.”

Maybe you think this is all hype, some marketer’s made-up story to sell the program. I know otherwise—because I’m a success story too.

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“Spring into Health” 5K is set for May 13th

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Enjoy a morning of good, healthy fun in the great outdoors at the 8th Annual Grace Cottage Hospital “Spring into Health” 5K this Mother’s Day Weekend, on Saturday, May 13th. The family-friendly 5K starts at 8:30 am on the Townshend Common. The race will be timed for competitors, but is open to all, whether you run, walk, roll, or stroll. The course is 3.1 miles of mainly flat, paved road along Grafton Road (Route 35).

After the race, there will be awards, raffles, and general merriment. There is also a free Fun Run for kids 8 and under on the Common at 9:15. The event, held rain or shine, wraps up around 10:30.

Register online for an early bird rate of $12/adults, $5/kids at www.gracecottage.org/events.

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Careers in Nursing

| Graceful Health
Lisa May

By Lisa May, RN, Grace Cottage Clinical Nurse Educator

Nurses are an integral part of the healthcare team, and this is a career with many opportunities, both in terms of jobs available, and of the many specialties within the field.

As the population ages, our need for nurses is growing, but surprisingly, enrollment in nursing schools is down. I want to encourage those considering this field by providing helpful information and by sharing some of my own story.

Career opportunities for nurses exist in hospitals, clinics, schools, long-term care facilities, and in community health. Emergency, trauma, cardiac, pediatrics, mental health, and oncology—these are just a few of the healthcare areas that need nurses.

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Annual Online Auction is ON Feb. 1 – 28

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Need a massage? A trip to Mexico or South Africa? An evening at the theater, or some new artwork for your walls?

From Wednesday, February 1, until Tuesday, February 28, 8:00 pm, you can bid on these items and many more through the Grace Cottage’s annual Cabin Fever Auction.

An awesome array of more than 70 items has been donated by generous businesses and individuals, with all proceeds benefitting the Grace Cottage Patient Care Fund.

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Secret Life of the Clinical Lab

| Graceful Health

By Erin Lamson, Grace Cottage Lab Technician

Have you ever visited a lab for blood tests and wondered what happens to your specimen? If you have, you’re not alone. Lab testing happens behind closed doors for obvious safety reasons, leaving the clinical laboratory nearly invisible to the public eye. As a result, clinical lab professionals have one of the least understood roles in health care, even though a recent estimate suggests there are roughly 300,000 laboratory professionals in the United States.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) claim over 7 billion clinical lab tests are performed annually in the U.S. Tests range from relatively simple ones like finger-stick glucose tests, to highly complex ones requiring special expertise, such as molecular diagnostics. Most tests are considered moderately complex, including common tests like cholesterol levels. Regardless of complexity, test results provide helpful, sometimes critical information to healthcare providers and their patients.

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Grace Cottage adds safe room to its emergency department

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The Grace Cottage Hospital Emergency Department is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The staff sees approximately 3,000 patient visits each year. Mirroring statewide and national trends, at an increasing rate, patients with mental health or addiction issues seek help at the Emergency Department. These patients are at times a danger to themselves or to others.

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