Tagged: Health

A forum next week in Lincoln focuses on the health care needs of veterans.

The VA of Nebraska-Western Iowa is hosting the forum next Wednesday evening. It’s an opportunity for veterans to ask questions about health care and find out what services they’re eligible for.

VA of Nebraska-Western Iowa spokesman Will Ackerman says the Lincoln clinic has the tools to meet a veteran’s physical and mental health needs. “Theveteran knows his or her health better than anybody, and so this is a great opportunity in the VA for them to be part of the decision-making process, which is a little bit different then what it had been in the past.”

The Douglas County Health Department’s Chief of Community Health and Nutrition Services is in Washington DC for the Weight of the Nation Conference.

Mary Balluff says the purpose of the conference is to figure out how we as a community are going to combat the obesity issue.  A recent article in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine predicts an increase in the percentage of obese and very obese Americans over the next twenty years.  

Balluff says Douglas County has done a number of things locally to try to stem the tide of obesity in the Omaha area.

A recent study by Gallup found that U-S businesses lose more than 150-billion dollars each year due to employees’ health-related issues.

The city of Omaha, an elementary school, and 13 businesses recently completed a 12-week wellness challenge. The program, called the Weight No More Wellness Challenge, sought to get participants exercising regularly and eating healthy.

Deb Gray is a wellness consultant with Complete Nutrition, the company that sponsored the challenge. She says programs promoting health and wellness are important not just for individuals, but for an entire community as well. Gray says workplace wellness programs create a culture of accountability and support.

Creighton University’s president says new partnerships with Alegent Health mean health science students will have quality training for years to come.

One agreement expands Alegent’s teaching affiliation with Creighton’s health sciences programs. Creighton president Father Timothy Lannon says the move is good for medical students, and will better address community needs.

Alegent’s Bergan Mercy Medical Center and Immanuel Hospital provide residency slots for Creighton’s medical students.

The number one priority on the City of Omaha’s Transportation Master Plan is the Market to Midtown Connector.

The connector would convert Harney Street, from midtown to the Old Market, into a street that supports multiple modes of transportation, including biking and walking.  

Derek Miller, Transportation Planner for the City, says there will be a special event celebrating the rollout of the transportation master plan called “Heyday on May Day.”  Sarah Johnson, Manager of Greenstreet Bicycles and member of Mode Shift Omaha, says Miller initially suggested putting up some posters in a room as a means of unveiling the plan to the public.  

Even though she’s a self-admitted transportation geek, Johnson says she was not excited about the idea.

Alegent Health expects its two new agreements with Creighton University to become official July first.

Creighton and Alegent officials announced the agreements Tuesday. Alegent Health President and CEO Rick Hachten says one agreement expands their teaching affiliation with Creighton’s health sciences programs. Right now, Bergan Mercy Medical Center and Immanuel Hospital provide 17 residencies for Creighton medical students. Alegent also provides clinical experience for OBGYN, pharmacy, and allied health students.

Dr. Adi Pour, Director of the Douglas County Health Department, says they’ve known since 2004 that the rate of STD infections in Douglas County is at an epidemic level.

She says the health department wants to take every opportunity to keep young people healthy.  Dr. Pour says one of the ways to do so is to increase screening rates. 

She says often these types of infections are asymptomatic, so people may not know they are infected.

"We know that the consequences in females could be infertility and we want to prevent this.  Not only is there a huge health care cost related to that, but it is also a personal issue that can really be devastating to those young individuals.”