Health Topics

For the third year, the Bridge the Gap to Health Race will sup­port a local orga­ni­za­tion through its Bridge the Gap Grant, which funds cap­i­tal projects that enhance health ini­tia­tives, youth pro­grams, and com­mu­ni­ty devel­op­ment. This year, the QMG Foun­da­tion is proud to part­ner with Quin­cy Chil­dren’s Muse­um, an orga­ni­za­tion ded­i­cat­ed to spark­ing imag­i­na­tions and nur­tur­ing poten­tial in every child.

After months of pain and weak­ness began affect­ing her every­day life, Michele knew she could­n’t keep push­ing through it. An MRI revealed a large disc her­ni­a­tion in her neck, lead­ing her to QMG Ortho­pe­dic Spine Sur­geon Dr. Philip Mein­hardt and, ulti­mate­ly, min­i­mal­ly inva­sive surgery at the QMG Surgery Cen­ter. Now recov­er­ing well, Michele is look­ing for­ward to get­ting back to the class­room and feel­ing like her­self again.

Get to know Kait­lyn Phillips, FNP‑C, who found her pas­sion for health­care at a young age and dis­cov­ered how much she enjoyed car­ing for peo­ple while work­ing as a CNA in high school. Out­side of car­ing for patients, she enjoys life on her family’s ​“fun­ny farm,” spend­ing time with her fam­i­ly and stay­ing active in her faith and com­mu­ni­ty. She also shares her approach to stay­ing healthy, from focus­ing on the basics to mak­ing pre­ven­tive care a priority.

The Quin­cy Med­ical Group Foun­da­tion is excit­ed to announce that reg­is­tra­tion is now open for the 26^th annu­al Bridge the Gap to Health Race on Sat­ur­day, May 9, 2026. Par­tic­i­pants can choose from a 5K, 10K, or half marathon.

Whether you’re going for a run, sit­ting on your couch recov­er­ing from a bad flu, or sit­ting out in the hot sun, you’ve prob­a­bly heard the same advice: Get plen­ty of fluids.

Drink­ing enough flu­ids pre­vents you from get­ting dehy­drat­ed. Dehy­dra­tion is more than just feel­ing thirsty – it’s when you lose or use more flu­id than you take in, and your body doesn’t have the water it needs to func­tion correctly. 

Stay­ing hydrat­ed is crit­i­cal for stay­ing healthy, and it’s espe­cial­ly impor­tant for main­tain­ing a healthy heart.

Quin­cy Med­ical Group (QMG) is expand­ing the care avail­able at its Han­ni­bal loca­tion with the addi­tion of Gas­troen­terol­o­gy ser­vices. Elie Ghoulam, MD, MS, a gas­troen­terol­o­gist, is now see­ing patients at the clin­ic, giv­ing patients in Han­ni­bal and the sur­round­ing com­mu­ni­ties anoth­er option for gas­troin­testi­nal care.

Recent cas­es of Cyclospo­ra have brought atten­tion to this intesti­nal infec­tion, which can cause per­sis­tent watery diar­rhea, fatigue and oth­er diges­tive symp­toms. Learn how Cyclospo­ra spreads, when symp­toms may require med­ical care and what steps you can take to reduce your risk and pro­tect your health.

An esti­mat­ed 40 mil­lion Amer­i­cans have a com­mu­ni­ca­tion dis­or­der, under­scor­ing the impor­tance of access to speech ther­a­py ser­vices. Quin­cy Med­ical Group (QMG) pro­vides care through its team of speech-lan­guage pathol­o­gists who treat patients of all ages with speech, lan­guage, cog­ni­tive-com­mu­ni­ca­tion, and swal­low­ing disorders.

QMG takes a col­lab­o­ra­tive, indi­vid­u­al­ized approach to treat­ment that may include assis­tive com­mu­ni­ca­tion tools, sen­so­ry-based ther­a­pies, and coor­di­na­tion with oth­er ther­a­py ser­vices. The team empha­sizes that ear­ly inter­ven­tion can sig­nif­i­cant­ly improve long-term com­mu­ni­ca­tion, learn­ing, and social devel­op­ment in children.

Army Chap­lain and Licensed Clin­i­cal Pro­fes­sion­al Coun­selor Steve Guziec has ded­i­cat­ed his life to ser­vice — first in uni­form, and now through his work at Quin­cy Med­ical Group. Draw­ing from his mil­i­tary expe­ri­ences, Steve helps vet­er­ans nav­i­gate the chal­lenges of life after ser­vice with com­pas­sion and under­stand­ing. His sto­ry is one of faith, resilience, and the last­ing bond shared among those who serve.

Mike N.’s expe­ri­ence high­lights the impor­tance of hav­ing a pri­ma­ry care provider who knows you and can help you nav­i­gate your care. With Kaitlin Phillips, FNP‑C, Mike has found a trust­ed provider who responds when some­thing feels dif­fer­ent and helps con­nect him to the right resources and specialists.

Join us Sat­ur­day, Sep­tem­ber 6, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at South Park in Quin­cy for the 5^th annu­al Man Up event host­ed by Quin­cy Med­ical Group. This free event wel­comes men of all ages to enjoy food, fun, friends, and fel­low­ship — and most impor­tant­ly, make the most of free health screenings.

Among the providers you’ll meet is Ted, Direc­tor of Car­diac Ser­vices at QMG. Ted has been part of Man Up since the very begin­ning and is return­ing for his fifth year. He’ll once again be on-site offer­ing free EKG tests while also con­nect­ing with men in the com­mu­ni­ty about their health.

As you get old­er, your prostate health changes. Here’s what you need to know about keep­ing your prostate healthy as you age.