Hospital News

The New Year is when we start making resolutions to lose weight. The main reason we need to do that is because we ate too much over the holidays. Stepping on the scale the first week of January doesn’t necessarily need to be a dreadful experience. Karen Arensmann, a registered dietitian at Alton Memorial Hospital, has a few tips to make sure we’re maintaining a healthy diet amidst all the holiday festivities.

Sherri Enlow has had more than her share of surgeries in her life, but the procedure she had done at Alton Memorial Hospital in September was the smoothest one yet. Enlow, 62, of Wood River, Ill., underwent a partial nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma on Sept. 22, with Dr. Arjun Sivaraman doing the procedure using the robotic da Vinci X Surgical System that AMH began using in January 2020. “It was wonderful,” said Enlow.

Alton Memorial Hospital is expanding its partnership with Books for Newborns, a nonprofit organization that provides book bags to low-income new mothers and children at no cost. AMH is now using other books for older children undergoing therapy in its Human Motion Institute. In late October, Books for Newborns delivered its 10,000^th book bag, and it went to a therapy patient at AMH.

Dr. Juletta Avagyan, a hospitalist nocturnist, is the winner of the 2020 Alton Memorial Hospital Chairman's Award. Dr. Avagyan won based on nominations submitted by employees and her fellow physicians. She received the honor recently from Gary Ayres, chairman of the AMH board of directors.

Dr. Juletta Avagyan is the 2020 Alton Memorial Hospital Chairman’s Award winner, but AMH is also honoring several other physicians and health care professionals for their work this year. They are Dr. Aaron Omotola, Community Service/Humanitarian Award;  Dr. Susan Rayne, Clinical Physician Award; Dr. Ethan Reynolds, Patient Service Excellence Award; Dr. John Richards, Emerging Leader Award; and Amy Schollenberger, Non-Physician Provider Clinical Excellence Award.

If you’re one of the many people struggling with excess weight or obesity, a new bariatrics program at Alton Memorial Hospital offers renewed hope so you can achieve your long-term health goals and live a healthy, active life. Dr. Matt Musielak, a general surgeon on staff at AMH, is offering sleeve gastrectomies for patients who meet certain guidelines, such as a Body Mass Index of more than 40. But the surgical procedure is just part of a lengthy process that also include visits with a dietitian as well as a mental health professoinal to make sure all the patient’s needs are met.

Only in the past year was Cheryl Bartosiak able to do something as simple as roast a marshmallow without having to deal with horrible pain. Bartosiak, 64, a former Alton Memorial Hospital nurse, underwent surgery by Dr. John Felder at AMH lin September 2019 to relieve the effects of migraine headaches that had bothered her for 40 years.

Daniel Berg, MD, is an experienced, board-certified Family Medicine physician who has started practice at Family Physicians of Bethalto, 163 E. Bethalto Drive. Dr. Berg is accepting new patients, so schedule an appointment today by calling 618-433-6490.

Four Alton Memorial Hospital departments were recognized with top 2020 awards from national health care research leader Professional Research Consultants Inc. (PRC).The Digestive Health Center, which earned a 5-Star Award last year, earned a Top Performer award for 2020. The Human Motion Institute, Women's Health and Childbirth Center, and the Emergency Department were also honored.

Miss Eunice’s Hat Box, the Alton Memorial Hospital gift shop that has been closed since late March because of the COVID-19 pandemic, is reopening on Tuesday, Sept. 8, with limited hours. The gift shop, located on the ground floor of the Beeby Wing across from the café entrance, will be open from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Days and hours could change later.