The Granville Neighborhood Health Center was chosen by the Southeast Regional Office State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services to provide an H1N1 vaccination site. Patients from age one year to 90 years old received either the nasal mist vaccine or the injectable vaccine on Saturday, February 13. Many of those receiving vaccine were new to the center, having heard about the service through a mass media campaign, coordinated by Mosaic Media, volunteering their services for the Health Division’s special outreach effort. This included television news coverage, guest spokesperson Dr. Janie Washington, presentations at Risen Savior Lutheran Church, and flyers distributed through the community.

Both WISN 12 and Fox 6 News spent the morning at the center interviewing volunteers and patients.

Over 130 people attended the open house of our new nursing laboratory today! The day will truly go down in history as a memorable one for the nursing program at Wisconsin Lutheran College.

The festivities started with an open house for the WLC faculty, staff, and students from 11:30 a.m – 1:30 p.m. Professors and students who were in class in the same room just a few months before were amazed at the transformation. Some desks and chairs still remain, but the room looks much more like a healthcare setting than a classroom. Five patient care areas surround the perimeter of the room, each occupied by a member of the Sim family (the patient simulators).

Ten minutes before the official start time of our community open house session at 4 p.m., guests began filing in to the lab. For the three hours that followed, sophomore nursing students proudly demonstrated the capabilities of the simulators and the features of the lab. Their poise was impressive and presentations were informative – a wonderful example of the blessings God has provided to our program.

Fast Tube by Casper

Fast Tube by Casper

We are grateful for the many guests who were able to attend the open house. Representatives from area schools, healthcare facilities, churches, and businesses were in attendance, as well as prospective students and family and friends of the students and faculty. It was certainly a diverse group, but one that represents many resources of support for this new program.

We look forward with great enthusiasm as we continue to build the nursing program at Wisconsin Lutheran College. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

by Erin Mathiak

Wow! What exciting times this is for the nursing program at Wisconsin Lutheran College! From the inaugural class entering its sophomore year in the program to our new nursing professor, Professor Sheryl Scott, to a new class of nursing students, there is plenty for the students to be excited about! We are certainly blessed!

Our first Student Nursing Association meeting of the year started out with plenty on the agenda. After everyone introduced themselves, the group got down to business. A T-shirt design committee was chosen to design shirts for SNA as well as the nursing program. We can’t wait to show our pride and excitement to the student body and community by wearing the shirts! New members were also encouraged to participate in the Granville Neighborhood Health Center, a free clinic which serves uninsured members of the Granville Neighborhood. GNHC allows nursing students to gain clinical experience and serve in whatever way they can, whether through child care, set up and take down, or at a vital sign station. The experience is rewarding, worthwhile, and beneficial to all who come: patient and provider alike.

The next big event for SNA will be our first ever food drive in November. After collecting non-perishable food items for a few weeks in food bins around campus, SNA will have a one-day food drop-off in our front circle, in the hopes that members of the community will contribute to the drive. SNA hopes the inaugural food drive will be a smashing success!

Participating in public debate is a role of the professional. Today’s Health Care Forum, hosted by Kathleen Dunn of Wisconsin Public Radio, in the lovely venue of the new Clinical Cancer Center of Froedtert Hospital and the Medical College of Wisconsin, provided such an opportunity.

Participants included health care providers, payees, and legislators. I was invited to the microphone to share my perspective: Nursing is especially suited to health promotion and prevention of illness. At the same time, a nursing shortage looms before us - will that further complicate the health care climate?

Key points shared by the guest panelists:

• One-third of medical costs are due to waste, i.e. unnecessary tests and treatments.
• 50% of insurance claims are a result of “self-infliction” i.e. smoking, obesity, alcohol.
• The health care consumer must accept responsibility for minimizing health risks.

Related News: Beyond the Bricks Blog

What do blood sugars and baptism have in common? Both are critical to life - one for earthly well-being, the other for eternal well-being. Last Saturday the volunteer health care team at the Granville Neighborhood Health Center (GNHC) witnessed God’s gentle hand firsthand. A volunteer RN was reviewing the blood sugar log of an Hispanic gentleman whom had been seen on the opening day and given a blood glucose monitor, with instructions to write down all of his blood sugars at home and return with this documentation. The RN was pleased that the man had done his “homework” and followed up as needed.  This patient encounter was facilitated by a Spanish-speaking seminary student.

What Lynn experienced next was a clear illustration of the mission potential of a free neighborhood health center. The patient suddenly asked, “Can someone baptize my baby?” As the good Lord would have it, the Hispanic outreach pastor “just happened” to be in the gym. The seminary student “just happened” to be the senior student assisting with the Hispanic outreach ministry. The health center “just happened” to be housed in the school gymnasium, attached to the church. 

The volunteers were expecting to plant seeds through this care ministry. The good Lord shared some early fruit!

Then He said to His disciplies, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” Matthew 9:37

The Granville Neighborhood Health Center (GNHC) opened it doors on April 25, 2009. The GNHC will serve the uninsured low-income residents in the community surrounding Risen Savior Lutheran Church at 95th Street and Brown Deer Road. 

U.S. Census Data suggest that a staggering 45 million individuals are without health insurance at this time. The statistics suggest that based on the median income of $26,909; that 75% percent of persons in the community are minorities; with 33% living below the poverty line; and 30% led by single parent households demonstrate the need for the GNHC services.

Public health is a major concern in the Milwaukee community and is not being adequately addressed by mainstream institutions. The Risen Savior community and GNHC supporters  believe it is a moral imperative to respond to the health care crisis and serve the needs of its community. 

Wisconsin Lutheran College nursing students will engage in clinical experiences at the new health center throughout their academic development at WLC. Additional opportunities for volunteering outside of coursework will be available ongoing.

It is the intent that the GNHC will be financed with private, public, in-kind donations, and through voluntary labor. Rebekah Carey, WLC Director of Nursing, is president of the Board of Directors, which will serve as the governance body for the clinic and provide sustainability for the future. The GNHC has been well received by stakeholders within the community, and we are confident our structure and expertise will enhance the quality of life for the residents in the community, and help close the gap of the need for health care services for the uninsured, low-income persons in Milwaukee.

Watch the FOX 6 feature on GNHC’s opening.