Blood Services to host blood drives
United Blood Services will host these blood drives:
1:30 to 5 p.m. Wednesday at Morehart Murphy Auto Center, 33/30 Parker Ave.
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 3 at First Methodist Church, 515 N. Park, Cortez.
1:30 to 5 p.m. Dec. 4 at Southwest Memorial Hospital, 1311 N. Mildred Road, Cortez.
9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 8 at Mercury Payment, 150 Mercury Village Road.
2 to 6 p.m. Dec. 8 at Silverton Recreation Center – Kendall Mountain Recreation Center, 14th Street, Silverton.
2:30 to 6:30 p.m. Dec. 10 at Cross Road Community Church, 1044 Park Ave., Pagosa Springs.
11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 11 in the Vallecito Room at Fort Lewis College.
3 to 7 p.m. Dec. 11 at Florida Mesa Presbyterian Church, 1024 County Road 230.
9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 12 and 2 to 6 p.m. Dec. 22, 26 and 29 at United Blood Services office, 1970 East Third Ave., Suite 107.
Noon to 6 p.m. Dec. 14 in the Fellowship Hall of Pine Valley Foursquare Church, 1328 County Road 501, Bayfield.
8 to 11:30 a.m. Dec. 15 at First National Bank of Durango, 259 W. Ninth St.
11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 15 in the cafeteria of Atmos Energy, 107 Jameson Drive.
11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 16 in the Healing Garden at Mercy Regional Medical Center, 1010 Three Springs.
12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Dec. 17 in the board room of the La Plata Electric Association, 45 Stewart Drive.
4 to 6:30 p.m. Dec. 17 at the Cortez Fire Protection District, 30 N. Ash, Cortez.
4 to 7 p.m. Dec. 17 in conference rooms A and B of Mercy Regional Medical Center.
2 to 5 p.m. Dec. 18 at The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave.
3 to 5:30 p.m. Dec. 21 in the Vida Peabody Conference Room, 14324 Colorado Highway 172, Ignacio.
To schedule an appointment, call (877) 827-4376 or visit www.BloodHero.com. For more information, call (888) 804-9913.
Organizations attend fire, fall prevention program
The Upper Pine River Fire Department and Evenings Porch Assisted Living and Comfort Keepers earned a scholarship award to attend the National Fire Protection Association’s Remembering When training conference Nov. 4-6 in Orlando, Florida.
Remembering When is a fire and fall prevention program that brings safety messages to older adults through nostalgia-based teaching.
The Remembering When scholarship award allowed these community advocates to receive training that will best prepare them to educate older adults about fire and fall prevention.
They have begun a yearlong commitment to engage senior citizens in the Bayfield area about home safety tips.
Over the next 12 months, they will conduct a minimum of five group presentations, complete at least 25 home visits and will train new home service visitors who can also carry safety messages to elderly residents.
Groups and residents can schedule a training session.
For more information, call Linda Schaffer at (970) 515-7055 or call Erin Youngblood at 884-0101.
Mercy receives A grade rating
Mercy Regional Medical Center recently earned an “A” grade Hospital Safety Score, which rates how well hospitals protect patients from errors, injuries and infections.
The Hospital Safety Score is compiled under the guidance of experts on patient safety and is administered by The Leapfrog Group, an independent industry watchdog. The hospital safety rating is peer-reviewed in the Journal of Patient Safety.
To see how Mercy’s score compares with other medical centers, visit www.hospitalsafetyscore.org.
Food sensitivities, sinusitis discussed
Caleb Gates, licensed acupuncturist, will give a talk called “Resolving Food Sensitivities and Sinusitis Using Advanced Allergy Therapeutics,” which are a safe, non-invasive treatment to resolve allergy symptoms.
The presentation will take place at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Program Room 1 of the Durango Public Library, 1900 East Third Ave.
For more information, call 259-9488 or visit www.allergyreliefbeyondbelief.com.
Tdap vaccination offered free of charge
A free clinic offering Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis) vaccines will be offered to the community from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday at the La Plata County Fairgrounds, 2500 Main Ave.
San Juan Basin Health Department is coordinating this free clinic for adults with community partners to exercise public health emergency response.
The health department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend tetanus and pertussis vaccination in youths and adults.
The Tdap booster is suggested every five years for adults to maintain pertussis immunity, while tetanus boosters are needed every 10 years.
For more information, visit www.sjbhd.org or www.cdc.org.
Care coordination to be discussed
The Center of Excellence in Care Coordination invites community members to a public conversation about care coordination from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday in the board conference room of La Plata Electric Association, 45 Stewart St.
Topics of discussion will include: news on collaborative care, inter-agency continuity, information exchange and resource networking.
Lunch will be provided and the event is free. For the past year and a half, more than 40 partner organizations have come together to build a health infrastructure for improved patient services and greater health system efficiency.
The results show improved access to timely and appropriate care for patients as well as cost savings across Southwest Colorado.
To register, visit www.swcahec.org or call 375-3250.
Free prediabetes education available
People identified as having prediabetes are invited to attend a free class by Sheena Carswell and Marge Morris from 9 to 11 a.m. Dec. 4 in Suite 140 of the medical office building at Mercy Regional Medical Center.
Attendees will learn how to manage prediabetes and help prevent the onset of Type 2 diabetes. Effectively managing prediabetes can help prevent diabetes.
To register, call Jan Wesley at 764-2720.
Herald Staff
