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Fitness Spotlight - Fall Hiking

What's All the Talk About Gut Health?

You’ve probably noticed “gut health” is getting a lot of attention lately as it’s become a trending topic in social and mainstream media. This is because recent research has discovered links between gut health and our immune system, chronic illnesses (diabetes, heart disease, multiple sclerosis and some cancers) as well as mental health and neurological conditions such as ...

Grocery Store Tour

Do you struggle with making healthy selections at the grocery store? Catawba Valley Medical Center Wellness Dietitian, Renee Greene, RD, LDN, is here to help! Check out our guided grocery store tour for tips and tricks on how to create your shopping list, the best items to buy, and ways to save on your shopping bill. Eating diverse and well-balanced meals is one of the best ways to develop and ...

All You Need Is Puppy Love

CVMC Therapy Pets Provide Comfort for Patients HICKORY, N.C. - Throughout the halls of Catawba Valley Medical Center (CVMC), you’ll find nurses, doctors, staff members, and patients. Occasionally, you’ll even find a four-legged friend. After a brief hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the pet therapy program at CVMC is back in operation. One of the pets that frequents the hospital ...

Men's Health Month 2022

June is Men’s Health Month. The following medical screenings are recommended for men from age 18 through adulthood. Men Aged 18-39* • Full Checkup with Height, Weight, Skin at least every 3 years • Blood Pressure Check Yearly • Blood Tests for Diabetes, Cholesterol, and Kidney Dysfunction at least every 3 years • Sexually Transmitted Diseases – both partners should ...

Bob Finds The Strength to Battle Cancer

Bob’s goals became a little different after he retired from a long, challenging career in furniture and sales. He became more involved in his church, started reading more books and began helping children learn to read. In 2017, his decision to visit Israel that would change his life forever, exploring biblical history and being exposed to vastly different cultures a world away. Bob returned ...

Bob Finds The Strength to Battle Cancer

Bob’s goals became a little different after he retired from a long, challenging career in furniture and sales. He became more involved in his church, started reading more books and began helping children learn to read. In 2017, his decision to visit Israel that would change his life forever, exploring biblical history and being exposed to vastly different cultures a world away. Bob returned ...

Brooke's Beautiful Journey to Motherhood

As the oldest girl among four children and 16 grandchildren, Brooke Wilcox spent most of her life taking care of kids. At age 20, she and her husband John decided to have a child of their own and sought the help of a midwife at Catawba Valley Medical Center Maternity Services. She had heard good things about the care available there and she liked the idea of experiencing childbirth as naturally as ...

Catawba Valley Medical Center Nationally Recognized by Newsweek as a Best Maternity Care Hospital

Catawba Valley Medical Center (CVMC) was recently named to Newsweek’s 2022 list of Best Maternity Care Hospitals in the nation. The distinction recognizes facilities that have excelled in providing care to mothers, newborns and their families. “Delivering a baby is one of the most important events in life,” said Jackie Miller, administrator of the CVMC Women & Children ...

Twelve Consecutive 'A' Grades for Patient Safety

Catawba Valley Medical Center (CVMC) has received an ‘A’ Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade for Spring 2022. This national distinction recognizes CVMC’s achievements in protecting patients from preventable harm and error in the hospital, as well as meeting the highest safety standards in the United States. This marks the twelfth consecutive ‘A’ grade for safety that CVMC ...

Vickie Scott Dedicates Her Life to Those in Need

Vickie Scott, now in her sixties, has dedicated her life to helping others in need. After years of mentoring young girls and providing them a shoulder to lean on, Vickie found that her volunteer work meshed perfectly with FaithHealth Catawba, so she joined the organization in 2019. FaithHealth Catawba is a dynamic partnership between the faith community, Catawba Valley Health System and other ...

The Warning Signs of Alzheimer's

Known as the most common type of dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease is associated with problems of severe memory loss, thinking, and behavior that interfere with a person’s everyday life. Alzheimer’s is the 6 th leading cause of death in the United States. It is a progressive disease that, as of now, has no cure. According to 2018 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures, North ...

Brooke's Beautiful Journey to Motherhood

As the oldest girl among four children and 16 grandchildren, Brooke Wilcox spent most of her life taking care of kids. At age 20, she and her husband John decided to have a child of their own and sought the help of a midwife at Catawba Valley Medical Center Maternity Services. She had heard good things about the care available there and she liked the idea of experiencing childbirth as naturally as ...

Julie Cook Receives a Weight Loss Wake Up Call

After being overweight for most of her life, Julie Cook, age 46, received a wake-up call following a colonoscopy last year that revealed five precancerous polyps. Considering that her mom had recently passed away from colon cancer, Julie’s doctor recommended a colon cancer screening even though she was younger than the recommended age for such a screening. It was then that she decided to ...

Sick Child? Our Provider Moriah Specht Offers Parents 4 Nuggets of Advice

The following tips are for children 6 months or older –for infants under 6 months, parents are advised to contact their primary care provider (PCP) immediately. What can you do at home? You may treat your child at home if their symptoms are mild, such as, mild cough, fever less than 101˚, nasal drainage, mild sore throat, few episodes of vomiting or diarrhea (without abdominal pain or signs ...

A Special Halloween Treat

Nobody plans to spend time in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with a new baby – especially during a holiday. But for premature babies born at Catawba Valley Medical Center, Halloween brings a special treat for parents. A holiday seems like a natural time for parents to show off their new arrival, but when their baby demands around-the-clock care, nurses try to make the occasion as special as ...