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Community Preparedness Day - May 5th, 2012

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 01:00:00 CDT

Community Preparedness Day
Ensures Community is Prepared for Potential Disasters

Grafton, Wis., April 13, 2012 – Whether it’s a tornado, wild fire, winter storm or power outage, it’s important to have the information and tools necessary before, during and after a disaster or emergency occurs. To help individuals and families be fully prepared for any type of emergency, on Saturday, May 5, 2012 from 10:00 a.m. to noon, the public is invited to attend Community Preparedness Day at the Grafton Public Library, 1620 11th Avenue, Grafton.

Participants in attendance will build emergency kits* with donated supplies, develop a family emergency plan and learn about local, regional and state resources. In addition, the public will have an opportunity to view the Ozaukee County incident command vehicle, triage trailer, fire trucks, police car, ambulance, and more!

This event is being sponsored by Aurora Medical Center – Grafton, Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital Ozaukee, Ozaukee County Emergency Management, Ozaukee County Public Health Department and the Southeastern Wisconsin Communities and Organizations Active in Disasters (COAD).

Community Preparedness Day is being funded in whole or in part with Federal Funds from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human services, under Contract No. HHSN-276-2011-00005C with the University of Illinois at Chicago.

*Emergency kits are limited to the first 100 families, one kit per family.

For more information contact:

Kathleen Schmitz, Columbia St. Mary's at (414) 270-4815 or

Myrle Croasdale, Aurora Health Care at (414) 299-1691

Saturday Free Clinic to Begin Seeing Pediatric Patients

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 01:00:00 CDT

The Saturday Clinic for the Uninsured, a joint venture of the Medical College of Wisconsin and Columbia St. Mary’s, will expand its services to include pediatric patients...

Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Institute helps a former firefighter get back on his feet

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 01:00:00 CDT

Tom Jones remembers nothing of the accident. And only slightly more of the five weeks spent at Columbia St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Institute.

He knows it was May 25, 2009 and that he was four-wheeling with a friend near his lake house in Hiles, Wisconsin. And he knows for certain that he wasn’t doing anything unsafe. “People that know me would have thought I was doing something really dumb, driving really fast, unknown terrain,” he says. “In reality it was none of that.”

Tom, 54, was Chief of Battalion 2 for the Milwaukee Fire Department. He and a fellow firefighter were driving home from a day of trail riding – “They tell me I was doing no more than 15 miles an hour” – and as he transitioned from the shoulder to the road, his two right tires got caught in a three-inch-deep groove. No one really knows why or how, but all of a sudden his four-wheeler flipped and landed on Tom’s head.

Tom’s riding partner quickly called 911 and it wasn’t long before Flight for Life was dispatched and transported Tom to Aspirus Wausau Hospital, where he stayed for the next three weeks. “I don’t remember a thing about Aspirus,” he says. “They say I was conscious, but I don’t know that. I was in a coma for 11 days.”

Once released, Tom’s recovery was only just beginning. Unable to walk and having difficulties with his speech, memory and vision, he was admitted to Sacred Heart in Milwaukee. Under the care of Dr. Elizabeth Davis and a brain injury team of nurses, physical, speech and occupational therapists, a social worker and psychologist, in addition to a therapeutic recreation therapist, Tom endured the 40 most frustrating and rewarding days of his life.

“The therapist would roll a ball and ask me to kick it. I couldn’t do it,” Tom says. “I was fairly athletic before, so when you can’t kick a ball that’s rolling at you, it really made me feel mentally handicapped. When you’re a 50-year-old man and you can’t even sit up and get out of bed, that’s where the real mental challenge was. At the time you never really know how long it’s gonna last.”

But he persisted and with the unwavering help of this specialized brain injury team at Sacred Heart, Tom began to walk. Step by step, at first, but everyday he got a little bit stronger. And eventually he was walking on his own. One day he woke up and his double vision was gone and his speech began returning to normal. His memory of the accident, however, remains lost.

“Dr. Davis did a good job of telling me that. She was very forward and honest, which was something I really appreciated,” Tom says. “She would say, ‘You know, you’re never going to remember. The only thing that makes it better is time and hard work. That’s a very hard thing to swallow. But I would say it’s a blessing in disguise.”

Though he retired from the Milwaukee Fire Department shortly after leaving Sacred Heart (he had previously intended to do so anyway, the accident just ensured it), Tom still works closely with them through the two businesses he owns: Emergency Response Specialist, LLC, a company that handles hazardous material and mass decontamination training, and Chief’s Choice, which makes detailing products for fire trucks and fire engines. And even though he can no longer bowl, which he misses dearly, life for Tom in the spring of 2012 is pretty much back to normal.

“I wouldn’t take back the day of the accident for anything in the world. I know it sounds crazy, but the experience has been more rewarding than anything in my life. The accident forced me to recognize the best of my family, the best of my friends and the best of the Milwaukee Fire Department,” he says. “If it wasn’t for the people at Sacred Heart my life would be totally different. Their time, their patience, their system of recovery was truly tremendous.”

Perhaps most amazing of all, less than five months after the accident Tom was back on that four-wheeler.
“Slowly,” he says, “and I wear a helmet.”

An Eight-Month, Cross-County Journey Into Fatherhood

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 01:00:00 CDT

George shares his story through words and video as he travels from New York to Milwaukee to meet his son, Colt, for the first-time. Colt was born at CSM Hospital Milwaukee a bit earlier than expected.

Doctor brings child and his parents into the world

Mon, 9 Apr 2012 01:00:00 CDT

31 years after parents' delivery, Dr.Allen Babbitz brings son into world

Check Out Columbia St. Mary's Top Docs

Fri, 9 Mar 2012 01:00:00 CST

As featured in Milwaukee Magazine's February issue.

Columbia St. Mary's Family Health Center Secures Grant for Free Clinic

Wed, 7 Mar 2012 01:00:00 CST

The grant funds will be used to purchase diabetes testing supplies for patients, to provide bus passes for patient transportation...

Going Green Because We Ought To

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:00:00 CST

An Ethicist’s Perspective on Environmental Sustainability

Can Diabetes be Cured After Weight Loss Surgery?

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 01:00:00 CST

By Joseph Regan, MD, Surgeon & Medical Director, Columbia St. Mary’s Bariatric Center

In Our Patients Words

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 01:00:00 CST

Dorothy Chaney and Vascular Disease

Express Care Now Available at Germantown Clinic

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:00:00 CST

Germantown, Wis., February 13, 2012 – Whether it’s a cough, ear infection, break or sprain, Columbia St. Mary’s physicians and nurses are now available to immediately treat all of life’s little mishaps and illnesses at the new Germantown Express Care. Open seven days a week with evening hours, Germantown Express Care is located within Columbia St. Mary’s Germantown Clinic, N112 W15415 Mequon Road, Germantown.

Germantown Express Care is staffed by primary care physicians and nurses from Columbia St. Mary’s. “You can walk in and see a doctor right away for a wide range of illnesses and injuries,” said Dirk Steinert, MD, of Columbia St. Mary’s Germantown Clinic."

Germantown Express Care is open Monday – Friday: 8:00 am – 8:00 pm; Saturday: 8:30 am – 12:00 pm; and on Sunday: 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm. No appointments are necessary, just walk in for service. All patients are welcome, and all major insurance providers are accepted. For more information call (262) 250-7800.

In addition to Germantown Express Care, Columbia St. Mary’s offers urgent care/express care services at the following locations in southeastern Wisconsin:

Columbia St. Mary’s Grafton Medical Center Express Care – Grafton
Cathedral Square Urgent Care Center – downtown Milwaukee
Marsho Family Medical Group Express Care – Sheboygan
River Woods Urgent Care – Glendale

New private NICU at Columbia St. Mary's in Milwaukee

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:00:00 CST

Today's TMJ4 report on Monday, November 14, 2011

Columbia St. Mary's opens area's first all-private neonatal rooms

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:00:00 CST

JSOnline report on Monday, November 14, 2011

Columbia St. Mary’s Opens Doerr Family Newborn Intensive Care Unit

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:00:00 CST

New Columbia St. Mary's NICU, located in Milwaukee, WI, to improve medical outcomes for premature and ill newborns.

Health Care Heroes!

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 01:00:00 CST

Congratulations to Dr. Michael Johnstone, volunteer medical director, St. Ben’s Clinic for the Homeless; and, Dr. Jim Sanders, medical director at Columbia St. Mary’s Family Health Center...

News from Photobooks Content Management System

Community Preparedness Day - May 5th, 2012

Community Preparedness Day Ensures Community is Prepared for Potential Disasters

Saturday Free Clinic to Begin Seeing Pediatric Patients

Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Institute helps a former firefighter get back on his feet

An Eight-Month, Cross-County Journey Into Fatherhood

Doctor brings child and his parents into the world

Check Out Columbia St. Mary's Top Docs

Columbia St. Mary's Family Health Center Secures Grant for Free Clinic

Going Green Because We Ought To

Can Diabetes be Cured After Weight Loss Surgery?

In Our Patients Words

Express Care Now Available at Germantown Clinic

New private NICU at Columbia St. Mary's in Milwaukee

Columbia St. Mary's opens area's first all-private neonatal rooms

Columbia St. Mary’s Opens Doerr Family Newborn Intensive Care Unit

Health Care Heroes!

Community Preparedness Day
Ensures Community is Prepared for Potential Disasters