Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Talk Line 08-31-2026: Mick Welding shares updates from Morrison Community Hospital

Transcript

Talk Line 08-31-2026: Mick Welding shares updates from Morrison Community Hospital · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Time for Talk Line. I know after the weekend, you've
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: been waiting and waiting, and here it is as promised.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Our good friends from Morrison Community Hospital joining us. Mick
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Welding on the line today. Sir, how are you?
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Thanks, Brandon. Hey, a little bit tired. We were a
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: guest of our nephew from Dubuque in the Cubs game
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: last night, and and a 30-minute rain delay made me think, oh,
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: my gosh, I'm going to get to bed really, really late.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: And I thought, wait, I better be on my best
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: behavior for Brandon on Monday morning. So here we are.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Well, yes, here we are. That sounds like a fantastic
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: way to spend a weekend, though. Yeah, yeah.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: I guess it would have been a little better had
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: the Cubs won, but that didn't happen.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: There's always next game, Nick.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: Well, you got that right. And how many times have
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: we heard that? Oh, boy. Always next year.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, as someone who had been a Bears fan for
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: a long time, I am certainly always looking forward to
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: the next matchup.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I was going to say, you talk about long-suffering.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: Some might say I'm a sadist.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: Well, I'm a Packer fan, and it's been a while
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: for us, too. So, I mean, we have our cross
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: to bear, I guess, huh?
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah. But that's okay, because, you know, no matter whether it's,
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: you know, spiritual or physical ailments you might be suffering here,
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: at least on the physical side, Morrison Community Hospital has
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: you covered. And you want to talk about two new
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: doctors you've added to your roster.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, exciting times, you know. One of our rheumatologists was...
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: was going to, uh, step down and he was going
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: to just focus on a practice down in the Quad Cities.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: And so we had a little bit of an opening and, uh, boy,
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: lo and behold, uh, we picked up a, uh, a
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: seasoned veteran. Um, his name is, uh, Rahim, R-A-H-E-E-M, Rahim Nazir, N-A-Z-E-E-R. But, uh,
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: he has been practicing for, for quite a few years. Uh,
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: he got his degree back in 1996. So, um, he's, uh, he,
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: he knows, he knows the, the art, you know, he
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: knows the trade. So, uh, we're, we're excited to have him. And, uh,
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: right now he's, he just started with us a few
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: weeks ago and, uh, he's practicing one day a week
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: for now, but he is taking new patients. And so, uh,
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: I know there's people excited. He's already getting quite a following,
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: you know. So we're excited that he's here with us.
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: And later on, he'll go full-time.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: No, you ease him into the season. As you know,
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: there are going to be some long-time players there. Yeah.
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: And he's got a little bit more of a background
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: than our previous rheumatologist had. You know, he... He treats
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: a lot in inflammatory arthritis, like rheumatoid and cirrhotic arthritis, gout, lupus, scleroderma,
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: some of these things, inflammatory muscle diseases. So he's really,
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: really big into that. And so I think with that
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: expanded level of expertise that he has, he's going to
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: fit in nicely here. So we're excited to have him.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. And, you know, as you said, he's taking new patients,
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: and he'll be ramping up to full-time here in the
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: nearest future. So that'll be something. If you're looking for
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: an experienced rheumatologist, this is definitely the time to make
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: a call and make a connection.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: You got that right. Yep.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: And, you know, so we want to get to your
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: other new player on the team. Yeah.
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: That is a, he's a cardiologist, and we still have Dr. Menazer,
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: who's a cardiologist, but his caseload was actually, you know, building. And,
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: you know, Brandon, you hate to tell a patient that
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: you're taking new patients and we'll see you in about
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: three weeks, you know. So we like to be able
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: to bring in another doc. They know each other, you know.
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: He recommended him, so... You get these two guys together.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: They're a dynamic team. And so this doctor is Dr. Potula.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: And so he is a cardiologist, as I mentioned, been
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: practicing since 2001. So he's been around for a while
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: as well. And he's going to do, like, general cardiology
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: checkups here. He'll clear people for any surgical procedures. surgical
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: cardiac clearance that they need, you know, for that, does
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: cardiac consultation, and he also does echoes and Holter monitoring testing.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: In fact, this morning I was walking into work and
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: I ran into a guy that's coming in and he goes, yep,
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: I'm bringing in my Holter monitor, you know, I've been
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: wearing it for a while, kind of seeing, you know,
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: what his heart rhythms are, and so he He was
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: coming in to bring that in, to turn that back in,
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: but that's exactly what Dr. Patula does.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: Well, there you go. Keep your ticker strong and make
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: sure that you're... You've got to keep up on them updates,
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: you know. It's just good to be preventative. What do
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: they say? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: of cure?
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: You know, they say that, and here at the hospital,
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: we take that to heart, you know, so.
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, it's, I, it's, it's never too early to,
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: to be careful, keep on top of things. Uh, people
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: that do generally fare better than folks who don't. So, uh, again,
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: don't wait yet. They have that option now and, uh,
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: he'll be waiting for you. And you guys have, uh,
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: you know, more, your, uh, new location for a quad
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: cities clinic and what you're doing with your physical therapy
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: team there as well.
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah. We, uh, Dr. Fowad and, uh, and Brad Harper,
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: his partner, who's an occupational therapist. Dr. Fouad is an
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine, knee surgeries, carpal tunnel,
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: and he also does shoulder surgeries as well. So he's
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: been practicing in the Quad Cities for some time, and
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: we just had this opportunity, Brandon, to pick up this
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: other location, and it's just off of 56th Avenue, which
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: is a pretty... common street there in Bettendorf. So they're
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: at 2316 56th Avenue West. Now it's actually just off
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: of 53rd, but it's strategically located right there. He's down
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: there on Thursdays. Brad's there Monday through Thursday. And then
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: what we've also done is this building down there has
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: a lot of additional exam rooms than we had at
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: our other location. So what we're doing is our physical
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: therapy team is working on a rotation where there's three
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: of them that are doing some days down in the
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: Quad Cities as needed. So people that need physical therapy
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: in the Quad Cities and they're already, you know, perhaps
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: having some surgery or contemplating surgery with Dr. Fowad or
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: you know, are also familiar with Brad down there, well,
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: we can supplement him and have these physical therapists go
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: down there and do work as well in some of
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: the rooms in this new location. And look for even
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: more services being offered down there because, again, I mentioned
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: to you a little bit off the air that there
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: are some additional therapy rooms down there that we can
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: fill up with other providers as well.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, and that's just making good use of
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: space and resources and personnel to try to make sure
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: that you got everybody covered as much as you can.
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: And that's a fantastic strategy.
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: You know, it's amazing how many patients we do see
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: from the Quad Cities. And so our footprint's been established
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: down there, you know. And so I think it's one
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: of those things where it's worked out well. Dr. Piragala's
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: got an office in Moline. And he's our neurosurgeon, so
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: he does a lot of patients as well from the
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: Quad Cities. He does surgery on the spine, you know,
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: the neck, you know. So he's busy as well. And, again,
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: he can see patients there before and after surgery in
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: the Quad Cities if needed, one day a week, and
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: otherwise he's up here.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: I love hearing that. Love that those options are available
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: to everybody. You know, Mick, after this weekend, I really
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: think I need to make an appointment with your cardiologist.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: I'm suffering from a broken heart. I didn't win the
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: 50-50 raffle at Depot Days, man.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: I was going to ask. I thought either way we
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: may have to treat you if you did win. It
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: was like $ 130, 000, wasn't it?
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah, right there at the line, man. That was a
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: fantastic jackpot.
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: Oh, my gosh. That thing is just huge every year. Yeah. Yeah.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: of contemplate, you know, people who have their heart set
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: on that, you know, others who, you know, may have
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: been fortunate to win or, you know, know someone who
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: did and all of a sudden, you know, realize that
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: they may be related to them, you know, so they can...
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: partner in that big win, but kudos to that town.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: That's great. The Depot Days is very popular.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. No, it was fantastic. And, uh, yeah, all, all,
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: all jokes aside in, in, in my heartbreak, uh, from
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: not winning. Um, it's just, again, these, it's just good
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: to be proactive about your health and not as many
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: rural communities are lucky to have the kind of robust
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: healthcare system that we have for Morrison community hospital. And
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: the way that you guys are always trying to expand
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: your footprint, your services, the space available, uh, reducing wait times,
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: being able to see more patients, whether it's through some
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: of the latest construction that had been completed, the plans
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: that are on the horizon, or just like this strategy
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: with your physical therapy team in your Quad Cities location
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: or that clinic. It's just a fantastic way to be
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: a really comprehensive health care system.
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we love it. I've been here, it was 13
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: years just a couple weeks ago, and oh my gosh,
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: the growth that we've seen, you know, just in the
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: patient base and the locations we're now in and the
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: number of doctors we have. So it's been a joy
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: to be part of that ride there, Brandon.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, same here, you know, since my early
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: times with Shaw as a reporter, getting to be out
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: there with you all in the frozen tent for the
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: groundbreaking on some of the.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: I remember that.
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: I said.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: I said, this is supposed to be groundbreaking, not shovel breaking.
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: You know, who picked a five-degree day, you know, to
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: do it? But you were there. We were proud of you.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: You guys had the heat lamps, and you had shovels
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: in the ground. And I had to wonder if I
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: just missed the behind-the-scenes, if maybe there was some steaming
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: hot water poured on that ground beforehand. Yeah. I thought
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: the same thing with you. I'm like, either shovels or
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: wrists are going to break on that ground.
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: Well, we strategically dumped a half a load of dirt
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: on top of the frozen tundra, you know, so the
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: simulated digging was actually loose dirt, you know. But to
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: the average viewer, you know, maybe it looked real. That
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: was our goal.
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I just assumed everybody worked out together. Yeah.
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: And now that building's done, so Yeah, and.
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: It's just always looking to the horizon with the next
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: exciting update and what's going to be with Morrison Community Hospital. Unfortunately,
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: we're out of time today, but Mick, you guys are
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: always coming up to give us updates, and we certainly
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: appreciate that because the future is looking ever brighter for
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: health care in our area thanks to Morrison Community Hospital.
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: Well, thanks, Brandon. We appreciate you guys.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: We appreciate you and looking forward to the next update. Thanks, Mick.