Connect

The below email from Craig Kent, MD, Executive Vice President for Health Affairs, is part of an ongoing series to our friends and neighbors in the local area highlighting UVA Health's COVID response and how our organization is poised to serve our patients and the community. To sign up for the UVA Health Community Update, subscribe here.

Dear friends and neighbors,

As we enter springtime, there is more encouraging news in our fight against COVID-19.

New cases around the state have leveled off, and related hospitalizations and deaths continue to trend downward. Here in the Blue Ridge Health District, cases remain stable, as do hospitalizations at UVA Health. There is concern about virus variants as they continue to spread around the country. Still, available vaccines are proving effective against them.

Vaccine supply to our local health district and access to appointments has increased significantly in the last few days, both signs of the state's rapidly expanding vaccination campaign. Moreover, as the Governor recently announced, everyone in Virginia who is older than 16 will be eligible to receive a vaccine by April 18. This is an important milestone in the pandemic. Still, it will only prove truly meaningful in helping us return to normal day-to-day activities if as many of us get vaccinated as possible. To receive an invitation for vaccination at a Virginia Department of Health location, pre-register at vaccinate.virginia.gov or call 1-877-VAX-IN-VA. Additional vaccine appointments are also available at retail pharmacies through vaccinefinder.org

As we have from the beginning, UVA Health strongly supports the Blue Ridge Health District's vaccination efforts with our people, resources, and expertise. Our 800-member volunteer vaccinator team has distributed more than 78,000 doses — including more than 24,000 doses at the large community vaccination site we operate in Charlottesville and even more at pop-up sites throughout the surrounding area.

UVA Health students are among those volunteering on the front lines. Some nursing students are training to administer vaccines as part of a unique class on Community and Population Health. And several medical students, who work with the UVA Latino Health Initiative, are serving as Spanish-language interpreters at vaccine clinics.

UVA Health infectious diseases experts continue to answer questions about COVID-19 vaccines, including safety, speed of vaccine development, side effects, efficacy, and new variants. Dr. Taison Bell recently recorded videos about the new one-shot J&J vaccine and getting vaccinated if you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant . Next week, PhD virologist Judy White and Dr. Ira Helenius are taking part in a live town hall meeting on April 14 at 8 p.m. to answer even more vaccination questions. 

Before I go, I want to mention some news about UVA Health's future. You may have heard that we signed a letter of intent to acquire full ownership of the Novant Health UVA Health System, including hospitals in Culpeper, Haymarket, and Prince William.

We very much look forward to serving an increasing number of patients throughout Virginia with our exceptional care, medical research, and educational programs. That said, I want to reaffirm that this acquisition will not change our commitment to Charlottesville and the surrounding region. If anything, this growth will only bolster the excellent care that we provide locally.

As one example of that world-class care, learn in the section that follows about our incredible lung transplant team. We are proud that our expanded UVA Health team is providing superb care to everyone in our community when and where you need it.

Wishing you and your loved ones health and happiness,

K. Craig Kent, MD
Executive Vice President for Health Affairs, University of Virginia
Chief Executive Officer, UVA Health

Meet Our Team:
Dr. Hannah Mannem, Dr. Max Weder, and Dr. Mark Roeser

Our lung transplant team is truly incredible. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Drs. Mannem, Weder, Roeser and their teams have successfully completed four lung transplants for COVID-19 related respiratory failure. These four patients with COVID-19 were on life support without signs of recovery before undergoing double lung transplant surgery. All of these patients are now out of the hospital and doing well. We were the first in Virginia to perform a lung transplant for COVID-19, and our success showed the effectiveness of this approach. The lung program wasn't the only busy program during the pandemic; our living donor kidney and liver programs were amongst only a small number in the country to continue providing lifesaving organs for our patients during the pandemic.

In recent years, our Comprehensive Transplant Center has expanded and grown to meet our patients' and community's needs. This expansion has helped save countless lives. Performing these miracles is dependent upon access to lifesaving organs. April is Donate Life Month, and signing up to become an organ donor is the best way to support this heroic work. Please become an organ, eye, and tissue donor by signing up at Donate Life Virginia.