Stories & News related to: Community updates/alerts

Health Matters: Colon cancer screening recommendation is reduced to age 45

March is national colon cancer awareness month. Colon cancer is rising among young individuals and according to the National Cancer Institute, it’s the third leading cause of death from cancer in the United States. As a result, colon cancer guidelines have changed. Now, everyone should be screened for colon cancer beginning at the age of 45. Screening options There are ...

Board-Certified Medical Oncologist and Hematologist Joins St. Peter’s Health

St. Peter’s Health Cancer Care welcomes Elizabeth Bigger, MD. Dr. Bigger comes to St. Peter’s with 15 years of clinical experience providing oncology and hematology care. She earned her Doctorate of Medicine at the Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, N.C. and her Bachelor of Science in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at Yale University in New Haven, Conn ...

St. Peter’s Health’s DePaso and Vogley-Turner Receive DAISY Awards for Extraordinary Nurses

St. Peter’s Health Registered Nurses Rick DePaso and Jannine Vogley-Turner received DAISY Foundation Awards for Extraordinary Nurses. DAISY awardees are selected quarterly from nominations submitted by St. Peter’s patients and their family members. DePaso has been with St. Peter’s since 2015, most recently caring for patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). In DePaso’s nomination, a patient relayed a number ...

St. Peter’s Health Nicotine Cessation Program Helps Smoker of 50 Years Quit for Good

Nicotine Cessation Program is evidence-based and effective St. Peter’s Health offers the Greater Helena community clinical and evidence-based programs to help nicotine users quit for good. In partnership with the Montana Quit Line and the American Lung Association’s Freedom from Smoking program, the St. Peter’s Health Nicotine Cessation program is a seven-week program that combines the use of medication and ...

St. Peter's Health Medical Group Welcomes Gastroenterologist Dr. Lauren Shea and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist Julie Christensen

Gastroenterologist Dr. Lauren Shea earned her Doctorate of Medicine at the Mercer University School of Medicine and her Bachelor of Science in Biology at the University of Georgia. She completed both her internal medicine residency and gastroenterology fellowship at the Emory University School of Medicine and is board-certified in Gastroenterology and Internal Medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine ...

Keep hearts beating by knowing CPR & how to use an AED

I worked as a dispatcher for the Montana Highway Patrol for 14 years before starting at St. Peter's Health as the American Heart Association (AHA) trainer last year. Sometimes, when people learn that I was a dispatcher, they ask: "is there a certain call that you will remember forever?" I have responded to all types of emergencies, but I do ...

St. Peter’s Wound Care Center Celebrates First Birthday among the Nation’s Top Third for Wound Healing

Today, dedicated, outpatient and expanded St. Peter’s Health Wound Care program celebrates one year in operation. The specialty clinic brought the best-in-class outpatient wound care treatment and technology to the greater Helena area. The program operates in partnership with Healogics, Inc. the nation’s leading provider of advanced wound care services. The multidisciplinary team is dedicated to healing chronic wounds that ...

St. Peter’s Caldwell and Ferber receive BEE Awards

St. Peter’s Health presented BEE Awards to Finance Supervisor Vickie Caldwell, CPA and Speech-Language Pathologist Tim Ferber, MA CCC-SLP. A companion to the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses, the BEE Award is given to any exceptional general or professional St. Peter’s staff member nominated by patients, family members and/or colleagues. Caldwell was nominated for the BEE Award by a colleague ...

Health Matters: Reducing your risk of cervical cancer

January is “Cervical Cancer Awareness Month.” This is the perfect time to highlight the importance of getting your regular women’s health screenings. The conventional screening called a “PAP” smear was developed by Dr. George Papanicolaou in the 1940s. It is the most common cancer screening test for women and consists of a pelvic exam and sampling of the cervical cells ...