Apple Creek Vineyard & Winery opening this weekend

Apple Creek Vineyard & Winery will open Saturday in conjunction with the Mississippi River Hills Wine Trail "A Taste of the Holiday Wine Trail Event." The winery, owned by Doug and Pat Hunt along with Matt and Shellie Gamel, is in North Cape County, 2.8 miles west of Old Appleton at exit 117 off Interstate 55.

The winery is on the banks of Apple Creek downstream from Berkbigler Spring, which flows year round, said Matt Gamel. The vineyard, first planted in 2006, includes 6 acres and six varieties of grapes. Wine is produced on-site by vintner Matt Gamel. The winery will also feature the Creek Bank Café, which will be open Fridays and Sundays. Apple Creek Vineyard & Winery also will host special events, weddings and groups for up to 75 people. It will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Sunday hours are noon to 5 p.m. The winery is at 1930 County Road 401, Friedheim. The Mississippi River Hills Wine Trail includes eight local wineries in Southeast Missouri: The Barrens Winery in Perryville, Hemman Winery in Brazeau, Tower Rock Vineyard and Winery in Altenburg, Rothbrick Winery in Jackson, Hunter Valley Winery in Cape Girardeau and Apple Creek Winery in Friedheim. For more information visit applecreekwinery.com.

* America's Mattress is now open at 304 N. Kingshighway, across from Culver's, in Cape Girardeau. It is owned by brothers Pat and Mike Young who, along with their father, Tim, operate Patrick Furnature, owned by their grandmother Katy Patrick.

America's Mattress has a network of 400 locally owned and operated dealers across the U.S. The store features Serta mattresses, including the IComfort and Perfect Sleeper models as well as Americas' Mattress Brand.

The new store is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. For more information, visit www.americasmattress.com.

* Southeast Hospital recently received the Healthgrades Vascular Surgery Excellence Award for 2013. The hospital ranks among the top five in Missouri for vascular surgery for the third year in a row. It is five-star rated for carotid surgery for the fifth consecutive year, and vascular surgery and peripheral vascular bypass surgery for 2012.

The hospital also is five-star rated for treatment of stroke for 2012 for the fifth year in a row.

The recognitions for vascular care and stroke are the latest in a long line of national awards that Southeast Hospital has received from Healthgrades. Nationwide, Southeast Hospital ranks among the top 5 percent of hospitals for patient care in 2012, according to Healthgrades. Southeast has earned the 2012 Outstanding Patient Experience Award and the 2012 Patient Safety Excellence Award from Healthgrades.

This is the fourth consecutive year that Southeast has earned the Outstanding Patient Experience Award.

The hospital has received the Patient Safety Excellence Award three of the last four years. This award ranks Southeast among the best-performing hospitals nationwide -- one of only 263 -- in terms of patient safety. Southeast is one of only two hospitals in Missouri to receive both the Patient Safety and the Outstanding Patient Experience awards this year. Healthgrades announced its ratings in its report, American Hospital Quality Outcomes 2013: Healthgrades Report to the Nation. The report evaluates how approximately 4,500 hospitals nationwide performed on risk-adjusted mortality and complication rates for nearly 30 of the most common conditions treated and procedures performed from 2009 through 2011. For its 2013 hospital quality outcomes analysis, Healthgrades evaluated approximately 40 million Medicare hospitalization records for services performed at short-term, acute-care hospitals nationwide. More information on the American Hospital Quality Outcomes 2013: Healthgrades Report to the Nation, including the complete methodology, can be found at www.healthgrades.com/quality.

* Students at Southeast Missouri State University and members of the Southeast community will join millions of people around the world to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week Nov. 12 to 18. This is the fifth year for the celebration at Southeast. Second City Communications will kick off Global Entrepreneurship Week with the keynote presentation, "Creativity and Innovation through Improvisation," at noon Nov. 12 in the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall at Southeast's River Campus. The presentation is free and open to the public and is a part of Southeast's 2012-2013 University Speaker Series. Two local entrepreneurs will share their stories along their path to success at noon Nov. 15 in Glenn Auditorium of Robert A. Dempster Hall. Presenters for the Pathways to Entrepreneurship event include Derek Cornelius, founder and president of Syntrax Innovations, and Daniel Mohorc, founder, president and chief executive officer of Galactic. Cornelius is one of the leading minds in the fields of nutrition and dietary supplements. Galactic was founded by Mohorc in 1993 and specializes in motivational meetings and events, incentive programs, destination management services, website design and hosting, group and individual travel programs, airline concierge services, and communications services that create strong relationships between a company and the people driving its success. For more information about Global Entrepreneurship Week, visit www.semo.edu/gew.

Southeast Missourian Business Editor Melissa Miller can be reached by email at mmiller@semissourian.com or by phone at 388-3646.