Hospital News

Kelly Currie, MD, is a Washington University Physicians of Illinois Inc. plastic and reconstructive surgeon who has recently joined the Alton Memorial Hospital medical staff. Dr. Currie specializes in hand/upper extremity surgery and general reconstructive plastic surgery.  She is located in Suite 101 of Medical Office Building A on the Alton Memorial Hospital campus. To schedule an appointment, please call 618-433-6006.

While it wasn’t the Thanksgiving she would have preferred, Gale Smay nonetheless came out of the holiday weekend with plenty of warm feelings about Alton Memorial Hospital. The Dow, Ill., resident was so thankful about the treatment she received while battling the COVID-19 virus that she brought bags of treats back to the ER and Intermediate Care Unit staffs recently.

For Trish Oberweis, the fact that Dr. John Felder successfully treated her melanoma was the main thing. But the way in which Dr. Felder and his office treated her along the way was just as important.

Not having its usual “Girls On Grapes, Boys On Brew” fund raiser in 2020 caused the Alton Memorial Hospital White Cross Auxiliary to think outside the box, but the public came through by raising more than $12,000 in a mail-in campaign.

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 professional to make sure all the patient’s needs are met.