Granite Falls Municipal Hospital & Manor

It’s a Boy – Thaddeus Joseph

Becky — Fri, 03 May 2013 18:43:52 +0000

It’s a Boy!

Thaddeus Joseph

Born to: Charlie and Louann

May 2, 2013 at 1:34 a.m.

Weight: 7 pounds 12.75 ounces Length: 21.5 inches

It’s a Girl – Harper Jean

Becky — Fri, 03 May 2013 18:31:15 +0000

It’s a Girl!

Harper Jean

Born to: Zach and Ashley

May 1, 2013 at 12:42 p.m.

Weight: 8 pounds 13 ounces Length: 20 1/4 inches

Terrie McCoss Activities Fund

Deena — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:56:08 +0000

Granite Falls Hospital and Manor announces the creation of the Terrie McCoss Activities Fund. This fund is established as a memorial to Terrie and her selfless dedication to the residents of Granite Manor. Terrie was killed in a car accident on her way to work on February 18, 2013. This fund is established to provide for Activity supplies, equipment and functions that are above and beyond the routine activities provided by the Manor. The initial money to establish this fund was donated by the family of current Manor Resident Ernie Rotunda as well as some of Terrie’s co-workers. If you wish to donate, you can send a check to Granite Manor, 345 10th Avenue, Granite Falls, Mn 56241 with the notation on the memo line “Terrie McCoss Fund”.

It’s a Girl – Hannah Marie

Becky — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:38:28 +0000

It’s a Girl!

Hannah Marie

Born to: Miranda and Justin

March 29, 2013 at 3:22 a.m.

Weight: 9 pounds 1 ounce Length: 21 inches

It’s a Boy – Hudson Nicholas

Becky — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:52:42 +0000

It’s a Boy!

Hudson Nicholas

Born to: Nicholas and Paige

March 2, 2013 at 9:56 a.m.

Weight: 8 pounds 2.5 ounces Length: 21 inches

It’s a Boy – Avery Delaine

Becky — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 20:54:10 +0000

It’s a Boy!

Avery Delaine

Born to: Dustin and Jenni

January 4, 2013 at 2:47 p.m.

Weight: 7 pounds 1 ounce Length: 19 inches

Home for the Holidays, is it time for a change?

Deena — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 03:04:20 +0000

For many people the Holiday season is one of the few times during the year that adults and their loved ones spend time together. The Holidays may be a time when families face and discuss the difficult decisions about finding care or a new living arrangement for their relative. Could your loved one need additional help with daily living? The following is a list of things to help you consider the need for possible changes to keep your loved one safe.

* Have medications been refilled on schedule, or have they been missing doctor appointments?

* Had a change in their eating habits within the last year, weight loss, no appetite, outdated food in the refrigerator?

* Has their personal hygiene changed, resulting in wearing dirty clothes, body odor, neglected nails and teeth?

* Their home isn’t as clean or is more cluttered then you remember growing up?

* Changed relationship habits, have friends and neighbors expressed concern about your loved one?

* Had physical problems such as burns or injury, resulting from general weakness, forgetfulness or possible misuse of medications?

* Stopped participating in activities they used to love such as playing cards, book club, dining with friends or going to church?

* Is there a pile of unopened mail, piling newspapers, are bills left unpaid?

* Sending money to every organization that sends out requests and entering an unusual amount of contests?

If you notice any of the above concerns or notice other changes and want to talk to someone about your loved one and see what options are available for home care or an alternative living situation, call Nancy at Granite Ridge Place 320-564-3382 or Jody at Granite Falls Home Care 320-564-6226

It’s a Boy – Rylan John

Becky — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 18:34:16 +0000

It’s a Boy!

Rylan John

Born to: John and Nicole

December 19, 2012 at 8:09 a.m.

Weight: 6 pounds 2 ounces Length: 20 inches

Mavis and Lowell Happy to be Home

Deena — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 14:56:00 +0000

By Scott Tedrick

For over 50 years Mavis and Lowell Gustafson have called the rural Hanley Falls prairie their home. Thanks to Home Healthcare Services like those provided by the Granite Falls Hospital and Manor that’s not likely to change anytime soon.
The Gustafsons have been blessed with a level of health and vitality that has allowed the pair to farm until retirement age and to volunteer well after––giving some 20 years to the historic jewel that is the Hanley Falls Machinery Museum. Nevertheless, nobody outruns Father Time and the two were reminded of this when both were stricken with separate bouts of illness.
“We started having health issues the past year,” said Mavis. “Both of us were hospitalized but luckily through Home Healthcare services we were able to come home sooner, instead of having to go to a nursing home or something.”
“It felt good to get out of the hospital and get home,” added Lowell.
The Granite Falls Hospital offers Home Care services in the hopes of maintaining continuity of care between the hospital, nursing home, clinic, physician and/or health care setting to individuals of all ages through professional nursing services offered in-home. In the case of the Gustafsons, this involved a roughly month long period of in-home care that was gradually reduced as each individual’s health improved.
“I’d heard of Home Healthcare for years and never thought anything of it, but when you need it yourself it’s a little different,” Mavis said. “It was a big relief not only for us but for our kids. They’re all so busy so they can’t drop everything and be here, so it’s nice for the rest of the family too.”
As was the case with Lowell and Mavis, the amount of time that health care providers will typically fund a hospital stay is limited. Thereafter, a patient must return home or receive continued care through a nursing home, or some other manner. For the Gustafsons, Granite Falls Home Care proved the ideal transition.
“It’s a little scary when they say you’re going to go home,” recalled Lowell. “You’re a little weak and not sure how you’re going to handle all of this… but then they make arrangements with Home Healthcare.”
Home Healthcare services include daily living assistance with showering/ bathing, dressing, grooming, transferring/ambulation, eating and /or medication reminders. Homemaker services may include meal preparation, light housekeeping and/ or local errands.
In addition, professional assistance may include education, wound care, IV therapy, palliative care, treatment procedures, injections, lab draws, and health and medication assessments––with services lasting anywhere from a few weeks to several years, depending upon the client’s needs and pay sources.
Other Home Care services may include follow-up home visits for newborns; telecommunication services for close monitoring of oxygen level, heart rate and other metrics; as well as professional service for physical, occupational and/or speech therapies.
The needs of the Gustafsons tapped into Home Healthcare services on the minor end of things, but were nonetheless essential in terms of getting the pair’s health back up to par.
“And you just can’t help but love all those girls. They’re so caring and so nice,” said Lowell of the Home Care nurses and therapists. “That’s part of it. A lot of it. When you’re around people who are so nice that makes you feel better.”
Today, the Gustafsons no longer require Home Healthcare services and are back up and running at close to 100 percent. Soon, they are hoping to enjoy their retirement with a bit of travelling, preferably to somewhere a little warmer. According to Lowell, Nevada’s high up on the list, as the pair has a penchant for gambling.
Wherever they decide to head, they will do so knowing that they could not have made the trip without the return to health facilitated by the Granite Falls Hospital and Home Healthcare.
Said Mavis, “I’m sure there’s going to come a time when we need a nursing home or extended care or something, but when you can do it at home it’s so much nicer.”

Mavis and Lowell Gustafson outside their Hanley Falls home with Granite Falls Home Care Nurse Kim Savig

Died…Been there, done that

Deena — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 22:53:35 +0000

Written by Scott Tedrick

It was the evening of July 14 when Tom McGarthwaite sat down at his
computer to check his email and quite unexpectedly died.
Tom and his wife Cheryl had just returned from a trip to Minnetonka
where they were helping their youngest daughter, Lisa, move into a new
apartment. After dinner, the two made the trek back to Granite Falls,
and it was between 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. when it happened.
“Tom had suffered, I didn’t know it at the time, Sudden Cardiac Arrest
(SCA),” said Cheryl. “He tipped over onto the book case next to the
computer and stopped breathing. Luckily both of us were downstairs and
I was about five feet away. I thought he was faking it initially. I
said: Oh, come on, you’re not that tired. Wake up. But he truly wasn’t
totally alive.”

Cheryl says the words, “not totally alive” with an awkward sort of
chuckle that thinly veils the cauldron of emotion that still boils up
at the thought of the evening––and it seems amazing that she’s able to
speak of it at all. Then again, the near-widow proved to be a rock
throughout the ordeal, taking it upon herself to administer CPR and
later holding it together when telling doctors it was time to ‘pull
the plug.’

Realizing Tom wasn’t faking, Cheryl recalled wheeling her husband back
in the chair, bringing him to the floor and beginning chest
compressions while simultaneously fishing her cell phone out of her
pocket to dial 9-11.

“First, the police were there in less than two minutes with an AED
(Automated External Defibrillator), which they used to begin shocking
him. The ambulance arrived in less than three minutes––and that’s the
miracle of living in a good little town, with a good police and
ambulance. But thank heavens the police had an AED in that car because
the faster he started breathing and his heart beating again, the
better the outcome you’re going to get.”

After it was determined that there wasn’t a significant problem with
his heart, Tom’s body temperature was reduced to induce hypothermia,
thereby slowing the system down so the brain is kept from swelling and
oxygen deprivation. A helicopter dispatched from Redwood Falls then
airlifted him to St. Cloud Hospital’s cardiac unit.

Doctor’s told Cheryl that Tom’s chances for recovery would correlate
with the speed in which he woke up, but after 24, 48, 72 hours and so
on, he remained unconscious.

“His kidney’s quit working and he needed to be on a ventilator because
he couldn’t get to breathing on his own. There was also concern of
brain stem damage and that he wouldn’t have his autonomic system
working,” recalled Cheryl. “So after four days they told me that he
probably wasn’t going to recover. Maybe he could be on a ventilator,
receive kidney dialysis and be a vegetable––if we wished to continue
treating him.”

Left with a no-win situation Cheryl did what she thought Tom would want.
“I said, well, you know, he’s not a man that ever went to the doctor.
He wouldn’t want that, let’s not do this any more.”
Moved to palliative care, Tom was taken off life support and
administered drugs meant to stave off any potential suffering. It was
to be only a matter of time, the doctors told Cheryl. He wouldn’t be
able to breathe on his own.

Only he did.

“I said I thought you said he would die right away, he wouldn’t be
able to breathe,” said Cheryl. “And they said, well we’re no longer
doing kidney dialysis and his kidney’s aren’t functioning. THAT will
kill him.”

But it didn’t.

At some level his kidney’s continued to function, and the hours, which
turned to days, rolled on.

“Eight days out, our daughter thought Tom was squeezing his hand. But
we couldn’t get him to do it and show the doctors,” recalled Cheryl.
“Nine days out, Tom seemed to be looking at us, but his eyes didn’t
look like they were focused and there was all sorts of this gunky
stuff in them. So I told the doctor that and he said: well, let me go
look. And he shined a light in and said his pupils are non reactive,
he’s blind.”

Dejected, Cheryl once again tempered any hopes and sought the comfort
of 16 friends from the “6:00 a.m. Swimmers” (a senior swimming group
of the Kilowatt Community Center) who had traveled to be present with
the McGarthwaite family as a surprise. Together they made their way to
the hospital lounge and prayed.

“Now this is really how it happened. I went back to the room, because
I had asked one of the girls to take pictures because I knew this was
the end of mine and Tom’s time together––the doctors told me he
probably couldn’t live another day––but my son said, Mom, I can’t do
this anymore. Dad talked.” “I said, John!”
“He said, no, the nurse asked: could I reposition this pillow on your
head? And dad hollered at her, no!”
“And then he started to wake up. And under his breath, really soft, he
went, CChherryylll… And that was it. I went to go get the doctors
and nurses and I said we’re not doing this anymore. And then it just
got better and better and better.”

With a laugh and deep exhale, Cheryl completes the tale, then turns to
her side and casts her gaze on her husband.
“To me,” he says with a subtle smirk. “I just woke up. It was like
nine days of nothing.”

Sitting across the room Tom looks pretty good for a guy who is
supposed to be deceased, or at the very least a vegetable. As it is,
he has gained back almost the entirety of his former function––his
balance is a little off and he still lacks energy and endurance, but
he is expected to continue to recover significantly for a period of
six months to a year.

“I had one nurse tell me that she had never seen anything like this in
her 22 years,” Cheryl said. “It was miracle, after miracle, after
miracle.”

After 19 days, Tom continued to surprise doctors when it was
determined he was well enough to go home. He would be able to receive
all therapies needed through the Granite Falls Hospital and its Home
Healthcare services.

Since the ordeal Tom has changed his eating habits, walks 3.5 miles
per day and now comes equipped with a pace-maker––as it was determined
that the cause of the initial attack was an irregular heartbeat. He is
also considering getting back into driver’s education, which he taught
prior to the event. But in the meantime he has become a popular
speaker with the Sudden Cardiac Arrest support groups and forums––
where he has been joined by St. Cloud Electrophysiologist Dr. Keith
Lurie in campaigning medical practitioners to allot more time for
patients who have undergone hypothermia to wake up taking them off
life support.

Today, the McGarthwaites say their relationship is stronger than
ever, even if Cheryl “pulled the plug on me,” as McGarthwaite likes to
joke.

“He wants to get a shirt made that says: Died, been there done that,”
said Cheryl of Tom, who seems to be finding the most humor in the
whole affair.

With a pair of new twin grandchildren, the McGarthwaites have plenty
to live for and are looking forward to getting the most out of their
new lease on life together.

“I’m much deeper in my faith and the belief that we may not know why
and when things happen but we still need to be in the here and now and
struggle to stay there,” said Cheryl. “I truly treasure not being a
widow and having Tom in my life.”

Tom and Cheryl McGarthwaite are happy to be together after Tom nearly
succumbed to Sudden Cardiac Arrest.

A word from Ambulance Director Gene Hughes

Editor’s note: Without the quick action of the Granite Falls police and ambulance, Tom McGarthwaite likely would not have had an outcome as positive as the end result. Asked to provide a little insight into the importance of having a police officers equipped with Automated External Defibrillators, Ambulance Director Gene Hughes said this:

This was the first event in twelve years where police officers used their defibrillator to successfully shock a patient back to life. The dedication and quick thinking these officers exhibited is rare. All the officers, of the city and county, are often the first on scene and help the ambulance crew provide care. This time they really made the difference by effectively using the equipment they carry to save a life. “I feel these officers are real heroes”. They used their skills and judgment to use their defibrillator in the minute before we arrived to do the right thing. No one could have done better. After the event I found that the patches they used were their only patches. They can’t or haven’t budgeted for extra patches and batteries for the defibrillators they carry at this time. I hope the plan for the future includes extra funds for these heroes among us. We need to keep their equipment ready at all times. These people really make a difference in our communities. The community of Granite Falls is extremely fortunate to have police officers trained to provide first aid, CPR and defibrillation, but without these supplies they are unable to provide the best care possible.

Tom and Cheryl McGarthwaite