The Peru Gazette

Health Department wants to assess and update your healthcare needs 

Clinton County – Through the end of February, the Clinton County Health Department (CCHD) and the University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital (CVPH) are asking residents what they see as the most pressing health concerns in our community. Residents can take part by responding to the survey at www.surveymonkey.com/r/CHA2025. 

The survey is one of the first steps in the year-long Community Health Assessment process, which CCHD and UVHN-CVPH undertake every few years. 

“A community health assessment is an opportunity to take a close look at our strengths and weaknesses when it comes to health, to acknowledge the progress we’ve been able to make collectively and to talk about what has prevented change,” stated Mandy Snay, Director of Health Planning & Promotion at CCHD. “The assessment tells our community’s health story while identifying the direction we want to go to make our programs, systems and approaches more accessible, equitable and aligned with residents’ needs.” 

Residents are invited to participate in the process through a community survey. The survey asks residents to weigh in on health challenges for themselves and their families as well as what they see as health issues in the community. “To truly improve the health of our community, it’s important that we receive input from all stakeholders – the residents of our county. This Community Health Assessment will help collect valuable information and insight as we partner with the Clinton County Health Department and other agencies to create a roadmap for a stronger North Country,” added Michelle LeBeau, Alice Hyde Medical Center & CVPH President. 

For the first time in many years, NYSDOH is updating the Prevention Agenda, the State’s health improvement plan, to better align with social determinants of health and common factors like housing, education, and access to care known to affect health outcomes. “This adds new excitement to our process and means resident and partner input is more important than ever as we identify health priorities and develop an improvement plan for the next three years,” added Ms. Snay. 

The anonymous survey takes approximately 5-10 minutes to complete. It is available online and can be completed on a computer, tablet, or phone. Residents can find the link to the survey on the Clinton County Health Department’s social media pages or on the Department’s website at health.clintoncountyny.gov. Paper copies of the survey are also available for those without access to the internet. For more information, please get in touch with CCHD’s Division of Health Planning & Promotion at 518-565-4993. 

CCHD will share the results directly with the community this summer and will use them to help identify health priorities in the 2025 Community Health Improvement Plan.

St. Augustine’s Parish Center, Monday, December 23, 3-6:30 p.m.

PLATTSBURGH, NY (12/20/2024) –   The Adirondack Regional Blood Donor Center, a program of the University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital (CVPH), offers multiple opportunities in January to donate blood and support the health and wellbeing of the North Country.

In addition to meeting the needs of CVPH patients, blood and blood products collected by the Center help patients at Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone, Elizabethtown Community Hospital (including the Ticonderoga campus), Massena Memorial Hospital and Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake.

Donors at drives held in January will be entered into a drawing for a Starbucks gift card. Here’s the schedule:

• Thursday, Jan. 2, Champlain Centre, 1 to 5 pm
• Friday Jan.  3, Lowe’s Plattsburgh, 10 am to 2pm
• Monday, Jan. 6, Riley Ford, Chazy, 1 to 4 pm
• Tuesday, Jan. 7, Brushton-Moira American Legion, 4 to 7 pm
• Wednesday, Jan. 8 Alice Hyde Medical Center, Malone, 11am to 3 pm
• Thursday, Jan. 9, Dannemora Community Center, 10 am to 2 pm
• Wednesday, Jan. 15, Massena Hospital, 11 am to 4 pm
• Thursday, Jan.  16, Elizabethtown Community Hospital, 1 to 4 pm
• Friday, Jan. 17, Monaghan Medical, Plattsburgh, 9 am to noon
• Monday, Jan. 20, Essex Fire Department, co-sponsored by the Masonic Lodge, 4 to 7 pm
• Tuesday, Jan. 21, Malone Fire Department, 2 to 6 pm
• Thursday, Jan. 23, Holy Name Church Hall, Ausable Forks, 4 to 7 pm
• Friday Jan. 24, Clinton County ARC held at West Side Ballroom, 9 am to 1 pm
• Monday, Jan. 27, Champlain EMS co-sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, 3 to 7 pm
• Tuesday, Jan. 28, New York State Department of Environmental Services headquarters, Ray Brook, 10 am to 2 pm
• Wednesday, Jan. 29, Ticonderoga Methodist Church, sponsored by Sylvamo, noon to 3 pm
• Thursday, Jan. 30, Franklin Academy, Malone, 10 am to 2 pm
• Friday, Jan. 31, Franklin County Court House, Malone, 10 am to 2 pm

The Adirondack Regional Blood Center also welcomes donors to its Donor Center located at 85 Plaza Blvd. The Donor Center is open Monday through Friday from 8 am to 4 pm.  Walk ins are welcome.

Blood donors must be at least 16 years-old (16 and 17 year-old donors must have written parental/guardian consent), in generally good health and weigh at least 110 lbs. A screening questionnaire addressing personal medical, social and travel history is completed prior to donating and a donor card or another form of identification is also required. Donors must wait 56 days between donations.

Learn more about the Adirondack Regional Blood Center, giving blood and becoming a sponsor at UVMHealth.org/GiveBlood or call 518-562-7406.

Aubrey Ford, RN Receives DAISY Award

Aubrey Ford, RN was surprised as CVPH’s 24th staff nurse DAISY Award honoree during a ceremony with her ICU co-workers.

PLATTSBURGH, NY (12/20/2024) – Christine Porter worried about what each passing hour could bring as her mother battled a life-threatening illness in the ICU at the University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital (CVPH).

While she’ll never forget the fear she felt during her mother’s stay in the hospital, Porter also says she’ll always remember the difference Aubrey Ford, RN, made for her and her family.

“Aubrey took her time to not only educate us but, most importantly, to comfort us during one of the most terrifying times in our lives,” Porter recalls.

That compassionate care led Porter to nominate Ford for the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses, which Ford received during a surprise ceremony with her ICU colleagues this week.

Porter’s mother was admitted to the ICU after suddenly becoming seriously ill and needing dialysis. As her mother continued to receive care, Porter says there was so much going on that she didn’t know what the days ahead would look like for her mother. However, she and her family felt secure whenever Ford was there, adding she knew her voice was being heard no matter the question she asked.

“Like a breath of fresh air, Aubrey came in with confidence, skill and compassion. She managed that dialysis machine with exquisite expertise. She knew the answers to our questions with great understanding and conveyed such with great ease and professionalism,” Porter writes in her DAISY nomination.

While a loved one’s stay in the ICU can be filled with stress and anxiety, Porter says it turned into an experience that will stay with her and she wants to make sure Ford knows how much her care means.

“I will always remember the difference she made for me and my family,” Porter says. “From one nurse to another, thank you for taking such great care of my mother, Aubrey!”

During the award presentation, Ford received a certificate commending her as an extraordinary nurse. Like all honorees, she also received a DAISY Award pin and a beautiful and meaningful sculpture called “A Healer’s Touch,” which was hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.

CVPH launched the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses in 2018 to recognize and reward licensed nurses for making a meaningful difference in the lives of their patients. Nomination forms and boxes are located at each of the hospital’s main entrances and online at UVMHealth.org/CVPHDaisy. Nurses may be nominated by patients, families, and colleagues.  A committee reviews nominations and awards a deserving nurse each quarter.

The award is part of the DAISY Foundation’s mission to recognize the extraordinary, compassionate nursing care they provide patients and families every day. The DAISY Foundation is a national not-for-profit organization established by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes. Patrick died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), a little-known but not uncommon auto-immune disease (DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System). The care Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families. More information is available atDAISYfoundation.org.

Click here for the Syracuse.com story 

Twenty-nine nursing students graduated from North Country Community College’s inaugural Jan. to Dec. RN program

Click here for the Sun Community News story 

December 13, 2024

December 17 – A new group of gifts!

Peru, NY December 18, 2024 –  North Country goodwill has been visible the last several days at St. Augustine’s Parish Center. JCEO Community Outreach personnel have been preparing Clinton County Christmas Bureau Christmas gifts for delivery to JCEO Outreach Centers throughout Clinton County. JCEO Director of Community Outreach Lisa Goodrow said 550 households applied this year. Sometimes, a household can mean up to ten or more people. JCEO consolidates and delivers the gifts for the Christmas Bureau. The bags in the picture accompanying this story are only a tiny portion of the bags delivered.

Goodrow mentioned that many individuals, groups, and businesses assist the Christmas Bureau. Groups like the “Wild Women” sorted and packed the bags. Yesterday, retailer Aarons’ Electronics in Plattsburgh brought four truckloads to Peru free of charge.  St. Augustine’s Parish Center has been a great place to consolidate the truckloads of gifts.

Goodrow said JCEO is working to get all the gifts to Outreach Centers yesterday and to have them to applicants by Friday.

Click here for the Sun Community News story 

Click here for the NCPR story 

Peru, NY December 17, 2024 –  A rapidly spreading fire destroyed Lance and Veronika Falcon’s 436 Calkins Road home on Monday, December 16. Fortunately, the Falcons escaped the inferno and saved their animals. Unfortunately, the fire leveled their log frame home. When the Peru Gazette arrived, the Peru Fire Department and several other departments were at the scene. The house was engulfed in flames when the Peru Fire Department arrived. The house was not visible from Calkins Rd.; therefore, the Gazette did not get pictures. 

The Peru Gazette has been in contact with the Falcon’s son, Daniel Falcon, who resides in Colorado.  Daniel forwarded a FaceBook GoFundMe page organized by his cousin Chris Falcon, who resides in Rouses Point. Click here for the GoFundMe page. 

Heavy police presence at Abenaki Mobile Home Park in Plattsburgh

Click here for the MYNBC5 story 

Peru – CVPH Donor Center Blood Brive, Monday, December 23, from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., at St. Augustine’s Parish Center, 3030 Main St. in Peru. Each presenting donor during December will be entered into a drawing for a $50 Applebee’s gift card. 

The drive is being coordinated by St. Augustine’s Knights of Columbus Council 7273. 

Click here for the Syracuse.com story

All school districts develop plans to mitigate extreme heat in classrooms and support services spaces and to establish a maximum allowable temperature

Click here for the Sun Community News story 

Click here for the Sun Community News story 

Community thrilled with full-service grocery, deli open in the village

Click here for the Sun Community News story 

Ed Eisele, Co-Chair of Peru Lions Club, presents toys to the Clinton County Christmas Bureau

Peru Lions Club members Larry Shanley (l) and Cheryl Breen Randall (r) present a check for $1,000 and several food gift cards to Lisa Goodrow, JCEO Director of Community Outreach for the Peru/Keeseville Food Shelf.

The Turkey Trot gets underway

The Peru Lions Club’s Thanksgiving Day  Turkey Trot has been a great fundraiser for 47 years. Thanks to more than  400 participants and many donors, the 2024 Turkey Trot was another success. The Peru Lions are putting the proceeds to good use.

Peru VFW President Judy Lefevre led the wreath-laying

Active members or veterans of every military branch participated

The Tomb of Medal of Honor Recipient Thomas Kelly

Geoff Blaise of Keeseville instructs his daughter Harlee

Goeff Blaise and his son Andrew

The Blaise family of Keeseville L-R Andrew, Goeff, Harlee, Amanda and Tyler in blue jacket

December 14, 2024, Route 9-Lake Forest Drive, Plattsburgh – By John T Ryan

Many veterans, civilians, families and community leaders participated in today’s Wreaths Across America program at the Old Post Cemetery. They laid 210 wreaths at the gravestones of our fallen heroes.

The Wreaths Across America theme is Remember—Honor—Teach. Remember our fallen veterans, honor those who serve and their families, and teach the next generation the value of freedom.

The Old Post Cemetery is the location of our nation’s first Tomb of the Unknowns and the graves of many of the 136 Unknown Soldiers and Sailors of the Battle of Plattsburgh (1814). It is also the final resting place of another 163 known service members, members of their families, and Medal of Honor recipient Thomas Kelly.

Judy LeFevre, President of the Peru VFW Auxiliary, coordinated and led the ceremony. Guest speakers included Plattsburgh Mayor Chris Rosenquest, Mayor-Elect Wendell Hughes, Town of Plattsburgh Supervisor Michael Cashman, Assemblyman Billy Jones, and State Senator Dan Stec. Glenn Miller sang the “Star Spangled Banner” and American Legion Post 1619 Choir sang the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” American Legion Post 1619 served as an Honor Guard and performed the Rifle Salute. Plattsburgh Scout Troops 8039 and 8046 and the Peru Girl Scouts led the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Peru VFW Auxiliary raised $4,600 to purchase the wreaths. Many veterans organizations, veterans, local businesses and community members contributed dollars and services.

December 13, 2024—Joanne Kennedy took several great photos and video clips of the 2024 Peru Tractor Parade.  Thank you, Joanne! 

Click here for the Adirondack Almanac Story