The Riverbend Yarn Bombers set a goal to make 500 baby hats for donation to Alton Memorial Hospital’s Women’s Health and Childbirth Center. On April 17, it was bombs away. The actual total was 527 hats brought to AMH, a donation warmly appreciated by WHCC manager Jessica Mossman and her staff.

When talking about any issue, people would rather speak with someone who has “walked a mile in their shoes.” For clients in Alton Memorial Hospital’s Warm Hand Off substance abuse program, Louis Hollingsworth has walked a few marathons.

Urology of St. Louis (USL) has opened its newest location at Alton Memorial Hospital. The office is located at 2 Memorial Drive, Medical Building A, Suite 102. Those interested can call 618-288-0900 or go to stlurology.com for more information.

Alton Memorial Hospital, a member of the Siteman Cancer Network, offers free monthly skin cancer screenings from 4-6 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month in 2023 (not in November or Decemter). Rosters are full for the March and April screenings, but appointments are available for the May 23 screening as well as screenings on June 27, July 25, Aug. 22, Sept. 26 and Oct. 24. The screenings are by appointment only in Suite 101 of Medical Office Building A on the AMH campus. Call 618-463-7220 or visit www.altonmemorialhospital.org, then go to Classes & Events to register.

The AMH White Cross Auxiliary is continuing in its mission to replace all of the hospital's old wheelchairs with newer Staxi wheelchairs in its “Wheels of Love” campaign. The Auxiliary has added four new chairs recently in addition to the 10 that were purchased early last fall. If anyone is interested in sponsoring a chair, please contact Meg Dorris at 618-530-7006 or Irene McLaughlin at 618-530-8589. 

A quick response from Alton Memorial Hospital’s Emergency Medical Servives – particularly Matt Jolly and Ashley Streubel – saved the day for 8-year-old Easton Crane of Brighton last summer.

Andrew Chu MD, medical director of the Alton Memorial Hospital lab, is the winner of the 2022 AMH Chairman’s Award. Dr. Chu won based on nominations submitted by employees and his fellow physicians.

Michael Ringering’s full-time job is the administrator of several specialty physicians’ offices on the Alton Memorial Hospital campus, but he keeps himself quite busy away from the office, too. Writing is his other game, and Ringering recently released his third novel, Where Butterflies Go to Die, as well as his fifth short story, The Boy Who Ate Dirt. Both are available now in both eBook and paperback on Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, Nook, Kobo, and Smashwords.

Vertigo is a common problem that can be treated by seeking a referral to physical therapy for vestibular rehabilitation. Dr. Mary Schinkel, DO, is with BJC Medical Group ENT Specialists on the Alton Memorial Campus (Medical Office Building B, Suite 230) and often makes referrals to HMI for vertigo. To make an appointment with Dr. Schinkel, call her office at 618-463-7247.

BJC HealthCare will make it easier for families to access BJC’s world-class care in the Godfrey area in 2023. BJC will develop a 14,000-square-foot outpatient care facility with additional shell space for future expansion at the corner of Godfrey Road and Celesta Street.