Newsroom

Two providers, specializing in family medicine, are the most recent to join the Northwest Medical Group team. Both are practicing in Starke County; part of an effort to meet the growing demand for primary care there, according to Ashley Dickinson, Chief Executive Officer for Northwest Health – Starke. Tiffany Bowser, FNP Nurse Practitioner Northwest Medical Group - Primary Care 104 E. Culver Road, Suite 102 Knox, IN 46534 574-772-7918 NWMedicalGroup.com Tara Nimtz, FNP Nurse Practitioner Northwest Medic... ... Read More

Northwest Health – La Porte has been selected as one of the Best Maternity Care Hospitals in the United States, one of only six Indiana hospitals selected. The selection was based on quality data collected by The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit organization that reports quality and safety data of healthcare facilities and was announced publically on February 16. The facilities, that made the list of Best Maternity Hospitals 2021, met Leapfrog’s high standards of safety and quality of the maternity ... ... Read More

In recent years, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has identified diabetes as one of the major, and controllable, risk factors for cardiovascular disease. According to the American Heart Association, since diabetes causes sugar to build up in the blood it can damage blood vessels that control the heart muscle. Diabetes by itself is now regarded by many clinicians as the strongest risk factor for heart disease. But if you’re diabetic, it’s not enough to just control your blood sugar levels. The blo... ... Read More

You can make a difference in your own heart health by managing the risk factors within your control. Consider the following eight ways you can reduce your risk for heart disease. Maintain a Healthy Weight. Simply being overweight – without any other risk factor – can cause problems. Even seemingly healthy hearts are affected by weight, according to the American Heart Association. A minimal weight loss can make a significant difference in reducing blood pressure and improving your lipid profile. If, at t... ... Read More

Northwest Health announced it is opening registration for its Diabetes Prevention Program. The program was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which has partnered with organizations like Northwest Health with the goal of preventing type 2 diabetes. This yearlong program, which will be held at Northwest Health – La Porte, will begin in April. The organization hopes to attract individuals who are at risk for type 2 diabetes and have not yet been successful making recommended... ... Read More

Keeping everyone safe remains the first priority at Northwest Health and our hospitals in Knox, La Porte and Valparaiso. Based on the decrease in positive COVID-19 cases in the communities served by Northwest Health – La Porte, Northwest Health – Porter and Northwest Health Starke, the following changes to the hospitals’ visitor restrictions go into effect Wednesday, Feb. 3. According to a Northwest Health spokesperson, “It is the efforts of our community to fight against this virus that have made it sa... ... Read More

Northwest Health opened a new primary care practice in Portage on February 1 to better meet the needs of the growing Portage community. The new Northwest Medical Group – Primary Care office is located at 6200 Central Avenue in Portage. The group now has two offices in Portage. The other is located at 3630 Willowcreek in the Northwest Health – Portage campus. The new Primary Care office on Central Avenue houses long-time Portage providers Dr. Donald Maddack, Dr. Leonard Ostrowski and nurse practitioner A... ... Read More

This year, Americans will spend approximately $2 billion on candy gifts for the special Valentines in their lives. That’s good news for the chocolate industry, but it’s a whole lot of sugar. If you’re looking for a non-traditional Valentine gift for someone you love, consider giving the gift of a healthier heart. “Every year, heart disease claims the lives of a half million men and women in the United States alone – husbands and wives, moms and dads, with loved ones left behind wondering if the loss cou... ... Read More

People who sleep too little and those who sleep too much are both at increased risk for obesity, stroke, heart disease and diabetes. It’s one thing to know you should get “enough” sleep, but how do you know how much that is? The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) recommends seven to nine hours of sleep each night for adults ages 26 to 64, and seven to eight hours of sleep for those older than age 65. The NSF says as few as six and as many as 10 hours of sleep could be appropriate for the former group, and ... ... Read More

Your gastrointestinal (GI) system is as essential to your overall health as having good soil is to growing a thriving garden. In fact, the thousands of microscopic organisms living in your gut are called just that — “flora,” another word for plants. Actually bacteria, these microorganisms, live inside our intestines, and our bodies benefit from them. According to the National Institutes of Health, gut microbes take up 1 to 3 percent of the body’s mass – often heavier than an average three-pound brain. W... ... Read More