Wrangell Medical Center 

Healthbeat - October, 1999

By Karen Wright

The site for Wrangell Medical Center is up and running. The address is www.wrangellmedicalcenter.com/

For you expectant parents, visit our site; there are many fun links for you.

Our newborns will now be shown on the website. This will be great for out of town friends and relatives to see the new addition.

by Jeanie King

The Hospital Auxiliary held its first meeting of the year in September ‘99'. The Auxiliary raises money through the year to purchase special items for Wrangell Medical Center. This last year, the Auxiliary purchased two new low beds, a special wheelchair, new dinnerware, trays, and insulated plate warmers for the long term care.

The Auxiliary is planning on purchasing some new play toys, books, along with table and chairs for the doctor lobby area for the young children to play with this year.

Our first fundraiser will be the Christmas Bazaar on November 6, 1999 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the 49^th Star Trade Center. Donations would be very welcome for the Bazaar. Please come join us.

FROM THE HOSPITAL:

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON TEACHING PROGRAM: We were in contention with Petersburg Medical Center to host the WAAMI Family Medicine Clerkship for 3rd year medical students. Wrangell Medical Center won, and we should start receiving our first student this spring. Each student will stay approximately six weeks. Although, of course, all physicians will be working with the students, Dr. McCandless will be spearheading the program here in Wrangell.

This school year, we have five highschool students in the School to Work Program. This is the most ambitious year we have had. We welcome all the students and hope this is a great learning experience.

A new warning about the dangers of placing children younger than two to sleep in adult beds. A review of more than five hundred infant deaths reported to the Consumer Product Safety Commission over a period of eight years is published in Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (10-99). More than one-half of the infant deaths were caused by entrapment — that is suffocation or strangulation when the child’s head got caught between the mattress and a wall adjoining the bed or between the mattress and headboard. Nearly one-quarter of the deaths of babies on adult beds were caused by another person, usually a sleeping adult, rolling over on top of the baby. The researchers say the most troubling aspect of these deaths is that they were preventable. Adults were unaware or underestimated the dangers of putting a child younger than two to sleep on an adult bed.

As women get older, particularly beyond the age of sixty-five, they lose bone density for a number of reasons. However, doctors in London and Pittsburgh found that women with high blood pressure lose bone density even faster. Their study of more than three thousand elderly American women found that women with the highest blood pressure at the start of the three-year study also had the greatest amount of bone loss during the study. When people have high blood pressure, they lose more calcium through their urine, which may explain decreases in bone density over time. Hight blood pressure can be controlled by various means, and calcium supplements are readily available, although researcher Dr. Francesco Cappuccio says cutting salt intake can reduce calcium loss. He also suggests increasing potassium intake by eating more fruits and vegetables.

Method 1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 2.  Butterfly pork tenderloin (cut 3/4 of the way through the middle lengthwise, so that tenderloin opens like a book). Combine mustard and crushed garlic. Rub all the surfaces of the pork tenderloin with the mixture. 3. Mince chives and other assorted fresh herbs. Good choices include rosemary, parsley, thyme, and tarragon. Spread herb mixture in the middle of the butterflied tenderloin. Close the two sides and anchor together with toothpicks. 4.  Spray baking pan with vegetable oil spray. Place tenderloin in pan, and bake about 40-50 minutes. Do not over bake or pork will dry out. 5.  Slice into 8 equal slices.

Herbed Pork Tenderloin Ingredients: 1 pound pork tenderloin 2 cloves garlic, crushed 2 teaspoons dijon mustard 2 tablespoons fresh chives, minced 2 tablespoons herbs, minced Vegetable oil spray Yield: 4 Servings Per serving: (4 ounces)  Calories 141;  Fat 4 gms;  Saturated Fat 1.3 gms;  Cholesterol 74 mgs;  Sodium 88 mgs;  Carbohydrate 1 gms;  Dietary fiber trace gms;  Sugars n/a gms;  Protein 24 gms;  Vitamin A 10 RE's;  Vitamin C 2.4 mg,  Calcium 20 mg,  Iron 1.4 mg.  This recipe is 25.5% fat.  Carbohydrate (gm): 1

On Halloween, the LTC residents will be handing out treats to children from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the front lobby.

Please stop in to visit the residents and see the children in their costumes, and the joy on the residents’ faces.

We hope you will come by for a visit this winter as the weather makes it difficult for some to get out into the community, and visitors help bring a little sunshine to the long dark days of winter.