Transcription:
Join us in Saying YES to Good Health!

Ada Bair: Well, good morning. I hope you have had a great start to your day and that it has been a wonderful week. So whether you're still in bed, in the kitchen with that morning cup of coffee, at work, on the road or on the farm, wherever you are, welcome to Say Yes To Good Health.

Thanks to you, I'm not talking to myself this morning. I'm happy that you have joined me on this wonderful day. This is Ada Bair. I'm the CEO of Memorial Hospital and Hancock County Senior Services. And I am bringing this message to you from Carthage, Illinois. I'm here to introduce you to something that you all have really been wanting and waiting for and so many people have asked us to do.

Starting from today, Memorial Hospital will be coming your way every week with this health education radio program tagged Say Yes To Good Health. As you join us every week, we'll be relaying to you relevant health information that will ensure that everyone in our local community will have information that will help all of us stay in better health.

You know, here in the US we are extremely blessed. Over the years, our health conditions have improved so many more people now live longer than several decades ago. Our life expectancy in the US currently is about 84 for us women and around 79 for men. However, life expectancy has not resulted necessarily in healthy life expectancy as many people spend the last six to nine years of their later years in pain while they may be in and out of the hospital, and maybe not even being able to take care of themselves.

We might ask ourselves, is this how it is supposed to be? Or is this what we wish for in those senior years? Not at all, for we can live until old age with less chronic disease and less pain, but it results in us making the right decisions today. We may be able to enjoy sound health and sound mind even in our later years in life.

We say yes to good health when we listen to health information that's valid and not just anything we hear or see on social media. We say yes to good health when we adopt healthy lifestyles and stop unhealthy habits. Our daily decisions and the consequences will determine our health and our wellness.

This program will be coming to you weekly and is aimed to support you in this endeavor, giving heed to the instructions that you receive from seasoned healthcare professionals who've been working for many years within the community. Many of whom you know will ensure that we stay in good health.

For those of you not familiar with Memorial Hospital, let me share a little bit about your local hospital. We have been serving the Hancock County region for over 70 years. We have what you would expect from a hospital. That's an emergency department, inpatient services, surgical services, OB services, and transitional care for rehabilitation. There's also a rich array of diagnostic services for imaging, laboratory, cardiopulmonary sleep studies, pharmacy, cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, diabetes, health, and wellness services. We have outpatient behavioral health services for seniors through our Evergreen Center, as well as a network of seven clinic locations. Specialty services for dermatology, OB-GYN, urology, cardiology, pulmonology, podiatry, orthopedics, ENT, dermatology, women's health and oncology. What a long list and a rich array of services that your local hospital provides you.

There's a great deal to offer our Hancock County community without the need to travel, especially with our clinic locations in Nauvoo, LaHarpe, Hamilton, Colchester, Bowen, and Carthage. Our desire at Memorial Hospital is that you may be in the best health possible, also that whenever you are ill, you'll be able to recognize this early and present early for your healthcare and be taken care of.

Through this health talks on our radio, we will not only teach you how to stay healthy, we hope to improve your ability to navigate the healthcare system so that you will be able to get the care you need when you need it in a way that is affordable to you. I hope that you will say yes to good health by tuning in, listening on your phone or through the internet every Friday when this program comes your way.

You know, as individuals, we're full of assumptions concerning our health. More so, we also share these assumptions. So let me tell you a personal story. I always thought I was in fairly good health, but I had a friend let me know about five years ago that we had someone local who was a personal trainer. I really wasn't doing much in the way of regular physical activity at that time. So I called Gera Ufkes. Many of you know her from Belle's Loft right here in Carthage. And maybe you didn't know that she was also a personal trainer.

Boy, was I surprised that my strength was not great, nor was my balance. It got me thinking as we age, it's strength and balance that we need for independence. You know, as we age, we're at greater risk for falls, so balance is extremely important. So I focused on rebuilding my arm and leg strength to be as healthy and strong as possible. I said yes to good health as I committed to working out with Gera and have done so for the last five years.

With the advent of the internet and the social media, almost everyone gets online to put information out to the public. Much of this information is thrust at us as we browse through our phones daily and watch TV. Oftentimes we're overwhelmed with the gamut of information that we have difficulty filtering out what is real from the myths. While no one can claim to have all of the knowledge about issues, neither do we intend to be your sole source of information on health matters.

However, I urge you to tune into this program weekly. We will be inviting health professionals from different fields of medicine and healthcare to give us important facts about health conditions that are common and relevant to our local community. We will also be bringing you information on the current trends or locally available health resources and how you can make the most out of them.

What we're going to do is begin with some general information on diet and wellness, then we'll talk about fitness and exercise and what a healthy lifestyle entails. Now, when we talk about diet and lifestyles, we all think, "Wow, this is about restriction and rules." Discussion on lifestyle however is not about restrictions and rules, but it's more about how to ensure a quality life full of health and vitality.

You'll learn about good food and nutrition that you can enjoy and exciting ways by which you can integrate exercise into your normal daily activities without feeling like you're doing anything extra. In fact, just this morning, 20 minutes, that's all it took for a little fitness on my part and out the door and ready for the day.

Remember that we often forget that today's choices predict tomorrow's outcome. When we're motivated to embrace healthy lifestyles today, it can determine our state of health in later years. So we'll want to talk to you about health during stages of life. For instance, pregnancy, parenting, and adolescent health.

We'll teach you simple ways to take care of your skin and to recognize when something is wrong with your skin and where to go for help. Are you aware that, boy, with summer coming and the sun out, you may need to go for a skin exam before you step out for summer this year. And I was reminded by a colleague this morning who looks pretty burnt and crispy be sure and put on your sunscreen.

Are you aware that only one out of three persons with high blood pressure don't even know that they have it? It's because high blood pressure most often doesn't come with any pain, discomfort or symptoms. Are you aware that a cough can be as simple as an irritation in the throat and can be as serious as the unset of lung or throat cancer?

On this program every Friday, we intend to talk about various topics from general to specific health conditions or diseases that we all start saying yes to good health. So our mission at Memorial Hospital for this health education program is to keep the information you will be receiving as simple to understand as possible. Likewise, we intend that every week you'll receive practical tips on how to improve your health.

For those who are in treatment for one chronic disease or the other, we intend that you will realize how to take responsibility for your health, improve your compliance and cooperation with treatment. Our vision and our goal is that through this weekly program, we'll be enhancing the health and wellness of our local community through the increase in knowledge and adoption of healthy lifestyles.

Recently, I heard of Kelvin. At 85, he's a great grandpa who enjoys spending time with his grandkids. He came in for his annual preventive visits and was in good spirits. Apart from his high blood pressure that was well-controlled on medication, his lab results were great for his age. He told his doctor, "I intend to live until 96." Now, I'm not exactly sure what was magical about 96, but that was his goal. He said, "I've worked hard my whole life, and I intend to enjoy my retirement benefits for as long as possible."

So to all of you Kelvins out there in Hancock County, Illinois, Memorial Hospital celebrates you. For those who want to be the Kelvins of tomorrow, we welcome you to tune into this program every week as we say yes to good health.

We're not offering any form of treatment on our radio program, neither is Memorial hospital responsible for the personal views and information delivered by our speakers. We aren't going to endorse health material or drug information or products via this program. They will just be used perhaps as examples by our speakers.

We just want you, our listeners, to be motivated, to seek healthcare promptly when you need it. We want to ensure that you take advantage of all the resources made available within the community, our health department, Mental Health Centers of Western Illinois as well as Memorial Hospital. A healthier community is our goal.

You know, we're truly blessed with the healthcare resources that we have in Hancock County. Just to share another short story, I have family that live in communities where there is no hospital, no health department, no mental health resources and they have to travel a very long distance for care. So please take advantage of what we have locally. And if you're struggling with access to these important resources, please just call us at Memorial Hospital and we will see how we can help you get the resources that you need.

I want to hope that you have a really great weekend and that you join us again next Friday, WCAZ 99.1 FM and 1510 AM, 8:30 every Friday. So between now and then and all you do, ensure that you continue to say yes to good health. This is Ada Bair, CEO of Memorial Hospital right here in Carthage. And just as a reminder, if you have any questions, please reach out and use our website at mhtlc.org or call us direct at (217) 357-8500. Again, that's (217) 357-8500. And again, thank you for joining me and have a great day.