Hospital News

Alton Memorial Hospital will host an American Red Cross blood drive from 12:30-4:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 5, in the cafe meeting rooms. This is the first blood drive at AMH open to the general public since the pandemic began. To register for a time, please call Destanie Garrett at 314-341-6229 or email [email protected] 

The first residents of the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine Alton Family Medicine Residency Program began their three-year training at Alton Memorial Hospital on July 1.  A ribbon cutting was held July 2 in the program’s new offices on the first floor of Medical Office Building B on the AMH campus. Representatives from AMH, BJC, Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation (SIHF) and SIU School of Medicine attended.

Read on to learn more about the first six residents of the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine Family Residency Program at Alton Memorial Hospital.

Paul Waters of Bunker Hill, Ill., was the first patient to go through the Bariatrics program at Alton Memorial Hospital, and he is very satisfied with the care he received in his journey to drop more than 60 pounds in the past year.

The White Cross Auxiliary (WCA) of Alton Memorial Hospital is again having a mail-in fund raiser in 2021 instead of its usual “Girls on Grapes, Boys on Brew” event, which has been postponed for a second year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The deadline to donate is Aug. 1. For more information or to make a donation, please contact Debbie Gates at 618-971-7277 or Susie Pruetzel at 618-660-7375.

Although Alton Memorial Hospital was unable to hold its annual Employee Awards Banquet this year because of the pandemic, the hospital was still able to honor several of its top staff members during the recent Health Care Week. Amy Schuler, manager of Performance Improvement, won the 2020 Leadership Award. Natashia Womack of Occupational Health won the 2020 Employee of the Year. The Readmission Team won the 2020 Virginia Ilch Excellence in Quality Team Award.

Valet services resumed at Alton Memorial Hospital on Monday, June 7. The free service from Clayton Valet is available from 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The St. Louis Children’s Hospital mobile hearing clinic is available for appointments at Alton Memorial Hospital on the third Wednesday of each month. The mobile unit will be parked in the ambulance bay outside the Emergency Department entrance from 8:45 a.m.-5 p.m.  For more information or to make an appointment, please call 314-454-6171 or email [email protected].

Minola (Lueking) Jackson, one of the first graduates of the Alton Memorial Hospital School of Nursing (class of 1942) recently celebrated her 100th birthday at her California home. She remembers her days at the school, particularly Miss Eunice Smith.

The AMH Emergency Medical Services team celebrated national EMS Week (May 17-21) with several events, most notably a picnic held May 21 at the hospital’s EMS location in Bethalto. Jason Bowman, EMS manager, and EMS coordinator Rachel Lair honored several of their team members with awards for outstanding service in 2020 and also this year.