The Cortez Journal

more Southwest health notes

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  Patient safety is hot topic in healthcare

Ensuring safe care for patients who require care in the hospital setting has always been an important issue for healthcare providers and institutions, but it has become a front-and-center topic of discussion in recent years. National Patient Safety Awareness Week, sponsored by the National Patient Safety Foundation (www.npsf.org) is March 3-9.

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  Keep children healthy this winter season

Flu season is off to an earlier than usual start this year with large numbers of cases being reported around the country. The flu is not prevalent in unusually high numbers in Montezuma County, but it's early in the season and the flu vaccine is still available and highly recommended. It takes the vaccine about two weeks to take effect, so the...

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  Arthritis: Management and treatment options

If you're a baby boomer or beyond, experiencing aching joints and temporary stiffness when you get out of bed in the mornings, you're likely experiencing symptoms of arthritis. The word arthritis means "joint inflammation" (arth = joint; itis = inflammation). There are several types of arthritis with the most common ones being rheumatoid arthritis...

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  Managing low back pain

If you’ve never suffered from low back pain, count yourself as one of a lucky minority. It’s estimated that 80 percent of adults will experience low back pain at some point during their lives. In most cases the pain is a short-term annoyance, but severe or chronic low back pain can sometimes be debilitating.

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  Symptoms you should not ignore

It’s true that a “tincture of time” cures many ills. While you might take a wait-and-see approach to the occasional headache, a muscle strain, a head cold, or a mild bellyache, there are some symptoms that simply should not be ignored. According to Cortez family physician Jill Schenk, MD, there are a number of symptoms — some obvious and others...

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  Keeping sodium intake in check important for chronic conditions

Chips and salsa; A smoked turkey sandwich; cheese and crackers; a slice (or two, or three) of pizza. Is your mouth watering as you read this list? If so, you’re typical in that — like most of us — you love your salt. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the average American consumes about 30 percent more sodium each day than their...

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  What should you expect in the emergency room?

No one wakes up in the morning anticipating that a trip to the hospital emergency department will become the feature event of their day, but when such a visit becomes necessary, it’s comforting to know the service is available. Southwest Memorial Hospital’s Emergency Services Medical Director, Joseph Zajchowski, MD, moved to the area earlier this...

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  Treatments available for female health issues

For most women, the approximately four decade time span during which they menstruate each month, the experience is — if perhaps a bit of a nuisance — a relatively uneventful feature of the reproductive years. Mild cramps or pre-menstrual syndrome symptoms are fairly common, but these are usually short in duration, easily treated, and not...