UVA Health Kicks Off Statewide Advertising Campaign

Today UVA Health launched a brand advertising campaign that will reach audiences across the Commonwealth of Virginia. With the theme “Driven to Bring Hope to Life,” the advertisements feature a cast of UVA Health researchers, providers, and nurses. Running in various key markets across Virginia, the campaign will run on TV, streaming video, radio, social media, and other channels through the end of July.

“We want Virginians to know that there is no other health system in the state that can provide the breadth and depth of high-quality care that UVA Health can, as conveniently as UVA Health can,” said Lisa Badeau, chief marketing and communications officer. “This campaign will differentiate UVA Health from peer organizations and position us as more accessible, innovative, and inclusive.” Learn more on Connect.

Operations

Construction Update: Fontaine Research Park

Fontaine Research Park is undergoing an exciting and significant transformation with the development of the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology. To support this expansion, a new parking garage and central utility plant also are part of the plan. Please review the information and timeline to prepare for major changes over the next three months. For the latest information on the Fontaine projects, visit the Facilities Management website. For more details, refer to the April 26 email from Min Lee, MBA, MHA, Chief Operating Officer, UVA Health University Medical Center, and Jeremy Sibiski, MBA, MHA, Chief Operating Officer, UVA School of Medicine, or visit Connect.

Traffic Enforcement 

UVA Police is monitoring the 11th Street and Emmet/Ivy Garages on an ongoing basis and will conduct traffic enforcement as needed. Monitoring and enforcement is a result of numerous complaints concerning vehicles driving at excessive speeds as they exit these garages. Police officers will issue warnings and uniform summons to violators.

Operational Update: Masking Protocols

Seasonal influenza and COVID-19 activity continues to decline in most areas of the country, including Virginia, per the CDC’s Influenza Surveillance Report and COVID Data Tracker. Following updated guidance from UVA Health’s Infection Prevention and Control team, we will implement adjustments to our masking protocols effective May 1, 2024, at 7 a.m.

Clinical areas where masking is currently optional will continue to be mask optional. Masking will continue to be required in areas where we have high concentrations of high-risk patients.

We are no longer requiring all non-influenza vaccinated team members (clinical and non-clinical) to mask unless they work in an area where masks are required. However, as encouraged during the COVID-19 pandemic and flu season, everyone should consider their personal risk when making decisions about masking.

For a detailed list of updated masking requirements and next steps, please refer to the April 25 email from Reid Adams, MD, Chief Medical Officer, and Costi Sifri, MD, Hospital Epidemiologist, or visit Connect.

Leadership

Save the Date: UVA Health Town Hall

Tuesday, May 7 | noon-1 p.m. | Sandridge Auditorium and Livestream | Join K. Craig Kent, MD, CEO of UVA Health, and other UVA Health leaders to learn more about the top priorities and latest developments for our organization as we continue our momentum as One Future Together | Health and Hope for All. There will be a special segment in honor of National Nurses Week. 

Be Heard Breakfast

Thursday, May 9 | 9:30-10:30 a.m. | Health System Executive Board Room | There are still spots open for CEO Wendy Horton’s Be Heard Breakfast. Come together and chat with colleagues from across UVA Health University Medical Center. Team members can clock in for their time spent contributing to these valuable conversations. Sign up.

University Medical Center CEO Blog | Driving Sustainable Healthcare

In her new Vision and Voice post, Wendy Horton wraps up Earth Month by sharing UVA Health's sustainability efforts and how you can get involved. Read more. 

Human Resources

Benefits Wednesday: Meet a Counselor

Wednesday, May 1 | 7 a.m.-3 p.m. | Medical Center Dining Conference Room 3 | Ask questions and discuss your benefits with a Human Resources counselor. Walk-ins welcome. See monthly dates.

Happenings

2024 McGehee Lecture: Using Nursing Research to Address Maternal Health Equity in the Community

Tuesday, April 30 | noon-1 p.m. | Claude Moore Medical Education Building, Room 3001 | University of Massachusetts Amherst Associate Professor Lucinda Canty is a certified nurse midwife and Seedworks Health Equity in Nursing Program director. This presentation about using lived experience as a Black woman — along with poetry, art, and racial disparities research — offers a reproductive justice lens to improve racial disparities in maternal health. Learn more.

Medical Center Hour: Embracing the Healthcare Needs of Our Communities

Wednesday, May 1 | noon-1 p.m. | Pinn Hall Conference Center Auditorium and Zoom | The Jessie Stewart Richardson Memorial Lecture in Patient Quality and Safety will focus on our mission, vision, and values at UVA Health as they relate to providing the best care for our communities. Speaker Peter Paige, MD, MMM, CPE, FACEP, FACPE, Chief Clinical Officer; moderator Tracey Hoke, MD, MSc, FAAP, Chief of Quality and Performance Improvement. Lunch provided for the first 75 in-person attendees.

Visiting Professor Lecture: Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging

Thursday, May 2 | 4-5 p.m. | Moss Auditorium | Rachelle Crescenzi, PhD, Assistant Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, will deliver the lecture, “Visualizing Vascular Mechanisms of Tissue Sodium Storage.” Learn more.

UVA Schwartz Center Rounds: Maybe He Found Us

Friday, May 3 | noon-1 p.m. | Pinn Hall Conference Center Auditorium | Learn how a multidisciplinary team confronted barriers to uncover an oncology patient's humanity and provide connection. Join panelists Daniel Beiler, CMI; Sylvana Fernandez-Ellauri, CMI; Bradi McGuire, BSN; and Kellie Mitchell, MD, for this hour-long forum. Co-sponsored by the Compassionate Care Initiative. Register.

Team Member Art Day — Back by Popular Demand!

Friday, May 3 | 1-3 p.m. | Dining Conference Rooms 1, 2, and 3 | Drop in for a creative break in your day. All art supplies will be provided. Hosted by The Fralin Museum of Art at UVA. Free for all UVA Health team members.

Well-Being Walk: Breaking Stigma and Building Hope

Friday, May 3 | 2-3 p.m. | Old Medical School courtyard | Join the Faculty and Employee Assistance Program (FEAP) — in partnership with the Black Faculty and Staff Employee Resource Group — on a transformative, one-mile journey for well-being. The goal is to engage in meaningful conversations about the importance of prioritizing mental health to promote a culture of acceptance and support. This walk is a part of FEAP's mission to take a proactive stance against mental health stigma. All team members, staff, faculty, students, and UVA community members are welcome. Learn more and register.

Skin Cancer Awareness Month: Sun Safety Day

Monday, May 6 | 10 a.m.-noon | Pearisburg NRCA Head Start, 1105 Henson Ave., Pearisburg, VA, 24134 | The Office of Community Outreach and Engagement (OCOE) is partnering with the Virginia Department of Health’s Comprehensive Cancer Program and New River Community Action (NRCA) to host Sun Safety Day. This event is a celebration of the collaboration and an opportunity to educate students, teachers, and parents on sun safety, including games and treats. Questions? Contact: Iqra Haji, MPH, Cancer Education Project Manager, OCOE, UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Celebrate National Nurses Week

May 6-12 | In celebration of National Nurses Week, UVA Health is hosting a series of events, including an Evidence-Based Practice Symposium, drop-in party, Nursing Excellence Awards Ceremony, and more. Details. All team members are invited to participate in: 

• Nightingale Notables | Award a colleague with a 2024 Superlative Award. Available digitally or as a printable PowerPoint file.
• Late Nights at Higher Grounds | Extended hours to 2 a.m., May 6-12 | University Hospital Cafeteria
• Food Truck Friday | Friday, May 10 | 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Nominate a Nursing Assistant

Deadline: Thursday, May 9 | The Nursing Professional Governance Organization (NPGO) honors several nursing assistants each year for demonstrating excellence in their roles. Please consider nominating one or more of your well-deserving colleagues for these honors. Learn more and nominate. Questions? Email npgo@uvahealth.org.

UVA Health Orthopedics Community Education Fair

Saturday, May 11 | 9 a.m.-noon | UVA Orthopedic Center Ivy Road, 2280 Ivy Rd. | Booths at this free event will provide information on joint replacement, sports medicine, trauma and oncology, spine, hand, foot and ankle, physical therapy, imaging, and running. UVA Health Orthopedic providers will deliver educational talks. The Donut Kitchen will offer free donuts and coffee, and attendees can buy food at Sombrero’s Mexican food truck. A kids table will feature face painting, balloon artist, crafts, and other activities. Free UVA Health gear and patient education materials will be handed out. The access registration desk will be open for patients to schedule appointments and get help in signing up for MyChart. See the day’s full agenda and register.

Save the Date: UVA Health Week

May 12-18 | Join your colleagues at this annual event aligned during National Hospital Week to celebrate and show appreciation for the contributions of team members across our health system. Schedule of celebrations:

• Sunday, May 12 | University Medical Center, main cafeteria | 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; 6-7:30 p.m.; 11 p.m.-1:30 a.m.
• Monday, May 13 | Fontaine Research Park | 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
• Tuesday, May 14 | Orthopedic Center Ivy Road, outdoor tent | 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
• Tuesday, May 14 | Northridge, cafe | 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
• Wednesday, May 15 | University Medical Center, MR5 Courtyard | 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; 6-7:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, May 15 | University Medical Center, main cafeteria | 11 p.m.-1:30 a.m.

Uteam to-go (family-style buffet orders) will be provided for departments unable to attend. Managers must order in advance, and arrange for pick up. North Fork location will have a family style buffet meal delivered. Offsite UVA Health Clinics: The Rewards and Recognition team will work with HR Business Partners and administrators to coordinate meals for off-site team members using local restaurants in their area.

Charles L. Brown Award

Friday, May 17 | 5 p.m. | The Charles L. Brown Award for Patient Care Quality is UVA Health’s annual award for a care team who has worked to move our quality and patient safety efforts forward. Sponsored by the Department of Quality and Performance Improvement, this award offers a $10,000 prize to a team or teams to recognize excellence in patient care. Submit an application. Questions? Contact Jeff Lucas, Director, Performance Improvement, at 434.243.1755.

Appreciation

Video Series | Research in Motion

Have you been keeping up with the weekly video series Research in Motion? In it, researchers are asked three questions: What do you do? What do you love about your research? How will it impact human health? View the latest:

• Ling Qi, PhD (pictured) | "I have enjoyed the process of unlocking the secrecy of how the protein degradation system works in physiology, and how it breaks down in disease. The other aspect I enjoy the most as a basic scientist is the training of the next generation of scientists."
• Jie Sun, PhD | "I direct a respiratory immunology lab studying pulmonary immunity and pathology in the context of lung infection and cancer. I also mentor undergraduate and graduate student postdoc fellows, as well as a junior faculty in the lab."
• Anne Kenworthy, PhD | "We use a wide range of approaches — from computer models to looking at cellular components, to studying the protein structure at an atomic level — to understand how proteins that are found at the surface of cells contribute to cell function."
• Roger Anderson, PhD | "My research is dedicated to reducing and eliminating social disparities in cancer incidence and outcomes. A lot of my research has been focused on rural cancer disparities, especially in Appalachia, where we see high rates of incidence and mortality from breast cancer, colorectal cancer, cervical cancer, and lung cancer."

Thank you to these researchers — and all our colleagues who advance medical knowledge — for conducting research that shapes the medicine we deliver tomorrow, and how we deliver it. New Research in Motion videos are posted every Friday on Connect.

Previous Updates

Friday, April 26

Operational Update: Masking Protocols

Seasonal influenza and COVID-19 activity continues to decline in most areas of the country, including Virginia, per the CDC’s Influenza Surveillance Report and COVID Data Tracker. Following updated guidance from UVA Health’s Infection Prevention and Control team, we will implement adjustments to our masking protocols effective May 1, 2024, at 7 a.m.

Clinical areas where masking is currently optional will continue to be mask optional. Masking will continue to be required in areas where we have high concentrations of high-risk patients. 

We are no longer requiring all non-influenza vaccinated team members (clinical and non-clinical) to mask unless they work in an area where masks are required. However, as encouraged during the COVID-19 pandemic and flu season, everyone should consider their personal risk when making decisions about masking.

For a detailed list of updated masking requirements and next steps, please refer to the April 25 email from Reid Adams, MD, Chief Medical Officer, and Costi Sifri, MD, Hospital Epidemiologist, or visit Connect.

Operations

Change in Time: Crane Activity

Saturday, April 27 | NEW TIME: 10 a.m.-1 p.m. | Lane Road | Crane activity will take place to remove excess roofing materials left over from making repairs. The crane will block the northbound lane of Lane Road, near Crispell Drive. Flaggers will be on-site to direct traffic. Questions? Contact Scott Guynes, Senior Construction Administration Manager.

Leadership

Be Heard Breakfast

Thursday, May 9 | 9:30-10:30 a.m. | Health System Executive Board Room | There are still spots open for CEO Wendy Horton’s Be Heard Breakfast. Come together and chat with colleagues from across UVA Health University Medical Center. Team members can clock in for their time spent contributing to these valuable conversations. Sign up.

UVA Health In the News

Top Story

• Dr. Fern Hauck talks with The New York Times about safe sleep for babies.

Patient Care

• Dr. Binit Shah discusses our new comprehensive Parkinson’s clinic during this week’s NBC29 segment.
• Dr. Venkat Perumal is featured on the Becker’s Hospital Review podcast and online in Becker’s Spine Review discussing the future of orthopedics.
• Dr. James Daniero is featured locally and on TV stations nationally discussing common voice conditions and our Voice and Swallowing Clinic.
• Dr. Robert Goldstein is featured locally and on TV stations nationally discussing Saturday’s drug take-back event.

Research

• Dr. Andrew Southerland is featured in U.S. News & World Report and United Press International discussing the importance of controlling patients’ blood sugar after stroke treatment.
• Dr. Fern Hauck’s The Conversation article on sudden infant deaths is running across the country, including in the San Francisco Chronicle and Houston Chronicle.
• Dr. Andrew Wang talks with Medscape about the risk for pneumonia following endoscopic procedures among patients taking weight-loss drugs.
• Kristine Zengeler’s The Conversation article on how the brain’s immune cells could help fight Alzheimer’s is featured in news outlets that included Yahoo.

Community

• UVA President Jim Ryan is featured locally and on TV stations nationally discussing his Boston Marathon run to raise money for UVA Health Children’s.

Education

• Dr. Alyssa Mixon and Dr. Kathryn Xixis talk with CBS19 at the event celebrating 100 years of women in science and medicine at UVA.

Human Resources

Benefits Wednesday: Meet a Counselor

Wednesday, May 1 | 7 a.m.-3 p.m. | Medical Center Dining Conference Room 3 | Ask questions and discuss your benefits with a Human Resources counselor. Walk-ins welcome. See monthly dates.

Happenings

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

Saturday, April 27 | 10 a.m.-2 p.m. | Outside Education Resource Center | In support of National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, UVA Health offers a safe way for everyone to dispose of unwanted or unused prescription medications and sharps containers, no questions asked! Please note: sharp instruments must be contained within a sharps container; no loose instruments will be accepted. Details. Sponsored by UVA Health Pharmacy, UVA Health Anesthesiology’s Pain Management Division, and UVA Police Department. If you would like to volunteer, please sign up. 

Community Resource Fair

Saturday, April 27 | 10 a.m.-2 p.m. | Albemarle Campus, Boys and Girls Club, 195 Lambs Lane | UVA Health Children’s Outpatient Therapy Team is hosting a community resource fair for families and their children with disabilities. More than 20 community programs and vendors will be available. Light refreshments provided. Questions? Contact Marc Gilgannon, PT, Supervisor UVA Health Children’s Outpatient Therapy Services. Details.

2024 McGehee Lecture: Using Nursing Research to Address Maternal Health Equity in the Community

Tuesday, April 30 | noon-1 p.m. | Claude Moore Medical Education Building, Room 3001 | University of Massachusetts Amherst Associate Professor Lucinda Canty is a certified nurse midwife and Seedworks Health Equity in Nursing Program director. This presentation about using lived experience as a Black woman — along with poetry, art, and racial disparities research — offers a reproductive justice lens to improve racial disparities in maternal health.

Medical Center Hour: Embracing the Healthcare Needs of Our Communities

Wednesday, May 1 | noon-1 p.m. | Pinn Hall Conference Center Auditorium and Zoom | The Jessie Stewart Richardson Memorial Lecture in Patient Quality and Safety will focus on our mission, vision, and values at UVA Health as they relate to providing the best care for our communities. Speaker Peter Paige, MD, MMM, CPE, FACEP, FACPE, Chief Clinical Officer; moderator Tracey Hoke, MD, MSc, FAAP, Chief of Quality and Performance Improvement. Lunch provided for the first 75 in-person attendees.

UVA Schwartz Center Rounds: Maybe He Found Us

Friday, May 3 | noon-1 p.m. | Pinn Hall Conference Center Auditorium | Learn how a multidisciplinary team confronted barriers to uncover an oncology patient's humanity and provide connection. Join panelists Daniel Beiler, CMI; Sylvana Fernandez-Ellauri, CMI; Bradi McGuire, BSN; and Kellie Mitchell, MD, for this hour-long forum. Co-sponsored by the Compassionate Care Initiative. Register.

Well-Being Walk: Breaking Stigma and Building Hope

Friday, May 3 | 2-3 p.m. | Old Medical School courtyard | Join the Faculty and Employee Assistance Program (FEAP) — in partnership with the Black Faculty and Staff Employee Resource Group — on a transformative, one-mile journey for well-being. The goal is to engage in meaningful conversations about the importance of prioritizing mental health to promote a culture of acceptance and support. This walk is a part of FEAP's mission to take a proactive stance against mental health stigma. All team members, staff, faculty, students, and UVA community members are welcome. Learn more and register.

Celebrate National Nurses Week

May 6-12 | In celebration of National Nurses Week, UVA Health is hosting a series of events, including an Evidence-Based Practice Symposium, drop-in party, Nursing Excellence Awards Ceremony, and more. Details. All team members are invited to participate in: 

• Nightingale Notables | Award a colleague with a 2024 Superlative Award. Available digitally or as a printable PowerPoint file.
• Late Nights at Higher Grounds | Extended hours to 2 a.m., May 6-12 | University Hospital Cafeteria
• Food Truck Friday | Friday, May 10 | 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Nominate a Nursing Assistant

Deadline: Thursday, May 9 | The Nursing Professional Governance Organization (NPGO) honors several nursing assistants each year for demonstrating excellence in their roles. Please consider nominating one or more of your well-deserving colleagues for these honors. Learn more and nominate. Questions? Email npgo@uvahealth.org.

Save the Date: Annual Team Member Art Exhibit

July 11-Sept. 11 | Many team members have expressed interest in the annual Team Member Art Exhibit. This year, the exhibit will run from July to September. Watch this space in May for participation details. We look forward to seeing your art!

Appreciation

'Absolute Gem’ | Kudos for Our UVA Health Colleagues

To provide the best possible service and care for our community, UVA Health regularly surveys our patients on their recent healthcare experience. Below is a small selection of recent feedback praising our outstanding team members:

• “Dr. Stranix is well known among the trans community in the area, and gender affirming-related medical professionals, as well. I've seen his work improve the lives of people I know, and I'm excited to work with him for my own. The appointment with him provided great insight in how I can expect the surgery and subsequent weeks to play out.”
• “I'm glad the telehealth options are reliable, as I don't live in Charlottesville and the costs of missing work to travel to in-person appointments would be a significant barrier. It also means I'll be able to recover with family members, without constantly driving between [home] and Charlottesville during the early stages.”
• “Everyone at [UVA Health Mammography] is absolutely delightful. The woman at the front desk with the walker is knowledgeable, kind, and professional. The mammography nurse is an absolute gem. She is so incredibly wonderful. I wish she could be my nurse in other parts of my life. She is DAISY Award material!”
• “Jim is an outstanding individual who has helped me heal and move through a very difficult time in my life when I didn't think I would walk any distance. He has always been so helpful and willing to answer my questions and concerns. His expertise and support has been so important to my recovery. He should be recognized or rewarded as an outstanding employee of your organization. There are only a few that I would recognize this way.”

Thanks to all our team members for providing outstanding, compassionate, and safe care.

Wednesday, April 24

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

Saturday, April 27 | 10 a.m.-2 p.m. | Outside Education Resource Center | In support of National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, UVA Health offers a safe way for everyone to dispose of unwanted or unused prescription medications and sharps containers, no questions asked! Please note: sharp instruments must be contained within a sharps container; no loose instruments will be accepted. Details.

Sponsored by UVA Health Pharmacy, UVA Health Anesthesiology’s Pain Management Division, and UVA Police Department. Volunteers are needed! If you would like to volunteer, please sign up. 

Patient Care

Video | Building A Strong Culture: Closing Reflections With Bill Lombardi

At a recent Medical Center Management Group meeting, Bill Lombardi, DNP, AGACNP-BC, Administrator, Center for Advanced Practice, shared invaluable insights — learned from years of leadership experience — on how to cultivate a culture of excellence and foster sustainable growth within teams. Run time: 9:06. Watch now.

Essential Advance Care Planning Information Now Accessible From Epic Storyboard 

Advance Care Planning (ACP) is a critical process that helps adults of any age or health status understand and prepare for medical decisions they may face in the future. Effective mid-March, UVA Health implemented multiple Epic enhancements to ensure that ACP documentation is reliable, visible, and accessible in the medical record. Hovering over the ACP line in the patient Storyboard displays and links to information about a patient’s legally authorized healthcare decision maker and any ACP notes and ACP documents. Learn more on Connect.

Patient Outreach Encounters in Epic

Patient Outreach encounters are solely to be used by specialized Epic module users (e.g., Compass Rose Healthy Planet). If you are currently using the Patient Outreach encounter as a non specialized Epic module user, please discontinue and use a more appropriate encounter. For example: Documentation Only, Orders Only, Patient Message, Refill, or Telephone. If you have any questions, please contact the Epic Help Desk.

Reminder: Renew Your BLS, ACLS, and PALS Certifications

Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) certifications are crucial requirements for many of our medical providers and frontline team members. It is our policy and a regulatory requirement evaluated by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and The Joint Commission during routine inspections. For more information, including which roles are required to have certifications in place, please reference the Emergency Response Training Medical Center Policy. Certification renewal can be arranged through UVA Health’s Life Support Learning Center. If you have questions about ACLS, BLS, or PALS certifications, please contact your HR Business Partner.

Operations

Change in Time: Crane Activity

Saturday, April 27 | 10 a.m.-1 p.m. | Lane Road | Crane activity will take place to remove excess roofing materials left over from making repairs. The crane will block the northbound lane of Lane Road, near Crispell Drive. Flaggers will be on-site to direct traffic. Questions? Contact Scott Guynes, Senior Construction Administration Manager.

Leadership

Save the Date: UVA Health Town Hall

Tuesday, May 7 | noon-1 p.m. | Sandridge Auditorium and Livestream (link to come) | Join K. Craig Kent, MD, CEO of UVA Health, and other UVA Health leaders to learn more about the top priorities and latest developments for our organization as we continue our momentum as One Future Together | Health and Hope for All. There will be a special segment in honor of National Nurses Week. 

Happenings

Office for Nursing Research Forum

Thursday, April 25 | noon-1 p.m. | Zoom | George Demiris is the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing’s Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor. He’ll discuss "smart home" solutions for aging, wearable monitoring devices that support independence and quality of life among older, community-dwelling adults, and his work to use technology to support patients and families across many settings, including home and hospice care. Lunch provided for the first 30 attendees. 

NIH Online Forum | (Un)Fit to Nurse: Efficiency and Discipline at the Philippine General Hospital, 1898-1916

Thursday, April 25 | 2-3 p.m. | Join PhD in nursing student Ren Capucao for a forum about his work to bring the stories of Filipino nurses to light. The talk, sponsored by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), will be on the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) videocasting site and livestreamed on NLM's YouTube channel. Details.

Save a Life: Sign Up to Donate Blood 

Thursday, April 25 | 2-6 p.m. | Battle Building, First Floor | Quayle Learning Center | 1204 West Main St. | In celebration of Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, UVA Health is holding two blood drives. Sign up by emailing giveblood@uvahealth.org. Swag alert: Donate through April 28 and Red Cross will send you a $10 e-gift card. Also, you will be automatically entered to win a $7,000 gift card. Terms apply.

UVA School of Nursing Alumni Spotlight Series: Medications for Opioid Use Disorder

Thursday, April 25 | 4-5 p.m. | Zoom | Join alumnus Aaron Matthews, DNP, RN, AGCNS-BC, CEN, a retired U.S. Army major who works as associate chief of nursing services for mental health at Alexandria Louisiana Virginia Health Care Systems. He will discuss the treatment of opioid use disorder. Learn more.

Enlighten Ice Cream Social and Information Session

Friday, April 26 | 1:30-2:30 p.m. | Education Resource Center, Room B | Register for this interactive webinar about UVA Enlighten, an online program that supports healthcare employees by paving a pathway toward a degree. Learn more and register.

Community Resource Fair

Saturday, April 27 | 10 a.m.-2 p.m. | Albemarle Campus, Boys and Girls Club, 195 Lambs Lane | UVA Health Children’s Outpatient Therapy Team is hosting a community resource fair for families and their children with disabilities. More than 20 community programs and vendors will be available. Light refreshments provided. Questions? Contact Marc Gilgannon, PT, Supervisor UVA Health Children’s Outpatient Therapy Services. Details.

Visiting Professor Lecture: Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging

Thursday, May 2 | 4-5 p.m. | Moss Auditorium | Rachelle Crescenzi, PhD, Assistant Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, will deliver the lecture, “Visualizing Vascular Mechanisms of Tissue Sodium Storage.” Learn more.

UVA Schwartz Center Rounds: Maybe He Found Us

Friday, May 3 | noon-1 p.m. | Pinn Hall Conference Center Auditorium | Learn how a multidisciplinary team confronted barriers to uncover an oncology patient's humanity and provide connection. Join panelists Daniel Beiler, CMI; Sylvana Fernandez-Ellauri, CMI; Bradi McGuire, BSN; and Kellie Mitchell, MD, for this hour-long forum. Co-sponsored by the Compassionate Care Initiative. Register.

Team Member Art Day — Back by Popular Demand!

Friday, May 3 | 1-3 p.m. | Dining Conference Rooms 1, 2, and 3 | Drop in for a creative break in your day. All art supplies will be provided. Hosted by The Fralin Museum of Art at UVA. Free for all UVA Health team members.

Introduction to Mindfulness for Healthcare Employees

Wednesdays, May 8-June 12 | 6-7:30 p.m. | Zoom | Register | In today’s fast-paced world, stress affects us in many ways. How we respond to stress, directly affects our health and well-being. 

Appreciation

Pediatric Transplant Programs Excelling Thanks to High Volumes, More Living Donors, and Dedicated Teams

Near the end of Donate Life Month comes National Pediatric Transplant Awareness Week (April 21-27), celebrating “the gift of life provided through pediatric donation and transplant.” Here at UVA Health, we have much to celebrate. Our pediatric transplant programs — heart, liver, and kidney — have seen incredible success in the past year. More successful pediatric organ transplants mean more kids have a chance to live life to the fullest.

Transplant Program veteran and Lead Living Donor Transplant Coordinator Anita Sites, NP, says, “For any transplant to take place, whether it's an adult or a child, no matter what organ, to get them to that to the operating room requires a significant amount of time and energy and collaboration from physicians and surgeons, advanced practice providers, nurse coordinators, nutrition, pharmacy, finance, social work, child life specialists, psychology, and others, all working to get this person approved for a transplant.” 

“And that’s just the beginning. Then you have the transplant itself and the long road to recovery. There’s an endless number of people involved. Everyone is key and plays an important part. If just one team member isn't present or able to contribute, then it's not going to go the way that it needs to go.”
Thank you to all UVA Health team members who diligently care for our young patients! Read more on Connect.

Monday, April 22

Essential Advance Care Planning Information Now Accessible From Epic Storyboard 

Advance Care Planning (ACP) is a critical process that helps adults of any age or health status understand and prepare for medical decisions they may face in the future. Effective mid-March, UVA Health implemented multiple Epic enhancements to ensure that ACP documentation is reliable, visible, and accessible in the medical record. Hovering over the ACP line in the patient Storyboard displays and links to information about a patient’s legally authorized healthcare decision maker and any ACP notes and ACP documents. Learn more on Connect.

Patient Care

Video: Hand Hygiene With Dr. Costi Sifri

Costi Sifri, MD, FACP, FIDSA, Director of Hospital Epidemiology, delves into the latest developments in hand hygiene at UVA Health, outlining current initiatives, recent achievements, and upcoming strategies aimed at upholding our standard of excellence. Run time: 8:25. Watch now.

Patient Outreach Encounters in Epic

Patient Outreach encounters are solely to be used by specialized Epic module users (e.g., Compass Rose Healthy Planet). If you are currently using the Patient Outreach encounter as a non specialized Epic module user, please discontinue and use a more appropriate encounter. For example: Documentation Only, Orders Only, Patient Message, Refill, or Telephone. If you have any questions, please contact the Epic Help Desk.

Operations

Planned Power Outage: New Switchgear Testing 

Wednesday, April 24 | 1-3 a.m. | Testing and commissioning of the new Switchgear will include 20 individual, short power outages of one minute. During these outages, the pneumatic tube system will be out of service. To accommodate operations, pneumatic tube runners will be available: two assigned to Pharmacy; one assigned to the Emergency Department; and five floating runners for University Hospital, Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center, and West Complex (Toxicology). Please note: 

• Not every department will experience every short power outage.
• The West and Central inpatient towers, East Garage, and miscellaneous distribution on floors 0, 1, and 2 will be included in outages 1-1:30 a.m.
• The East inpatient tower and miscellaneous distribution on floors 0, 1, and 2 will be included in the outages 1:30-2 a.m. 
• All floors mentioned above will be included in the outages 2-2:30 a.m.
• Extra time will be allowed for adjustments during testing 2:30-3 a.m.
• These outages only apply to normal power outlets and normal power lighting. Emergency power, red receptacles, and emergency power lighting will not be impacted. Please make sure that critical devices are plugged into red outlets during this window of time. 
• These outages mostly affect University Hospital, including patient towers. They do not affect the South Tower, South Addition, or operating rooms. Affected equipment includes dietary and laundry equipment, refrigerators and freezers, copy machines, desktop computers, and pumps and fans not on emergency power.

The above times do not include cords and walk-throughs prior to outages. Managers: please alert overnight staff. Questions? Contact Todd Gibson, Health System Physical Plant Electric, or Scott Guynes, Senior Construction Administration Manager, at 434.282.3794.

Leadership

Renowned Parkinson’s Disease Expert to Lead UVA’s Department of Neurology

UVA School of Medicine has named Xuemei Huang, MD, PhD — a distinguished leader, clinician, educator, and scientist — to chair its Department of Neurology. She is slated to begin Aug. 1. Read more on Connect.

Be Heard Breakfast

Thursday, May 9 | 9:30-10:30 a.m. | Health System Executive Board Room | There are still spots open for CEO Wendy Horton’s Be Heard Breakfast. Come together and chat with colleagues from across UVA Health University Medical Center. Team members can clock in for their time spent contributing to these valuable conversations. Sign up.

Happenings

April Is National Donate Life Month

According to Donate Life Virginia, two people in the Commonwealth of Virginia die weekly waiting for the “gift of an organ that does not come.” Living donation reduces wait times for patients, greatly improving their chance of survival. During Donate Life Month, learn more about how you can become a living kidney or liver donor and access other organ donation resources. 

Save a Life: Sign Up to Donate Blood 

Battle Building, First Floor | Quayle Learning Center | 1204 West Main St. | In celebration of Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, UVA Health is holding two blood drives. Sign up by emailing giveblood@uvahealth.org. Swag alert: Donate through April 28 and Red Cross will send you a $10 e-gift card. Also, you will be automatically entered to win a $7,000 gift card. Terms apply.

• Tuesday, April 23 | 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
• Thursday, April 25 | 2-6 p.m.

Enhancing Brain Health

Tuesday, April 23 | noon-1 p.m. | Zoom | Register | Join this Hoos Well reward-eligible webinar to learn from UVA neuropsychologist Carol Manning, PhD, about tips and strategies to keep your brain healthy throughout your life. This webinar also will illuminate potential warning signs the brain may be sending to you of possible concerns.

Menstrual Cup Giveaway

Wednesday, April 24 | 10 a.m.-2 p.m. | Pinn Hall, outside of the Health Sciences Library | Period poverty is the lack of access to menstrual products and inadequate education on menstruation. The effects of period poverty include physical and mental health, as well as a loss of productivity at work or school. The Menstrual Cup Giveaway aims to promote menstrual accessibility and sustainability within the community by providing free June Cups. Stop by to learn about menstrual equity and the benefits of using menstrual cups. Read on Connect about the Spark project that ignited change by making free period products accessible to team members and visitors.

Medical Center Hour | Saying What We Mean: How Medical Language Reveals and Conceals

Wednesday, April 24 | noon-1 p.m. | Leonard Sandridge Auditorium and Zoom | An interactive session on the uses and harms of habitual medical language, and an invitation to self-examination through the lens of the words we use in practice every day. Speaker Anna DeForest, MD, MFA, neurologist and supportive care physician, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; moderator Benjamin Martin, MD, Assistant Director, Programs in Health Humanities, UVA Health. Lunch provided for the first 40 in-person attendees. 

UVA Radiology Visiting Professor Lecture | ‘What’s That Whole Body Scan?’

Wednesday, April 24 | 7-10 a.m. | WebEx | Jennifer Schroeder, MD, Assistant Professor of Radiology and Associate Program Director of Diagnostic Radiology Residency, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, will deliver the lecture "What's That Whole Body Scan?" Learn more.

Office for Nursing Research Forum

Thursday, April 25 | noon-1 p.m. | Zoom | George Demiris is the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing’s Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor. He’ll discuss "smart home" solutions for aging, wearable monitoring devices that support independence and quality of life among older, community-dwelling adults, and his work to use technology to support patients and families across many settings, including home and hospice care. Lunch provided for the first 30 attendees. 

NIH Online Forum | (Un)Fit to Nurse: Efficiency and Discipline at the Philippine General Hospital, 1898-1916

Thursday, April 25 | 2-3 p.m. | Join PhD in nursing student Ren Capucao for a forum about his work to bring the stories of Filipino nurses to light. The talk, sponsored by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), will be on the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) videocasting site and livestreamed on NLM's YouTube channel. Details.

School of Nursing Alumni Spotlight Series: Medications for Opioid Use Disorder

Thursday, April 25 | 4-5 p.m. | Zoom | Join alumnus Aaron Matthews, DNP, RN, AGCNS-BC, CEN, a retired U.S. Army Major who works as associate chief of nursing services for mental health at Alexandria Louisiana Virginia Health Care Systems. He will discuss the treatment of opioid use disorder. Learn more.

Physicians and APPs: Get a New Provider Directory Headshot

McKim Hall | Ground Floor, Room G045 | Physicians and advanced practice providers: get a new or updated headshot taken in 10 minutes or less on dates listed below. No appointment needed. Bring a white coat if you have one; if not, one will be provided.

• Friday, April 26 | noon-3 p.m.
• Monday, April 29 | 9 a.m.-noon

Enlighten Ice Cream Social and Information Session

Friday, April 26 | 1:30-2:30 p.m. | Education Resource Center, Room B | Register for this interactive webinar about UVA Enlighten, an online program that supports healthcare employees by paving a pathway toward a degree. Learn more and register.

Community Resource Fair

Saturday, April 27 | 10 a.m.-2 p.m. | Albemarle Campus, Boys and Girls Club, 195 Lambs Lane | UVA Health Children’s Outpatient Therapy Team is hosting a community resource fair for families and their children with disabilities. More than 20 community programs and vendors will be available. Light refreshments provided. Questions? Contact Marc Gilgannon, PT, Supervisor UVA Health Children’s Outpatient Therapy Services. Details.

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

Saturday, April 27 | 10 a.m.-2 p.m. | Outside Education Resource Center | In support of National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, UVA Health offers a safe way for everyone to dispose of unwanted or unused prescription medications and sharps containers, no questions asked! Please note: sharp instruments must be contained within a sharps container; no loose instruments will be accepted. Sponsored by UVA Health Pharmacy, UVA Health Anesthesiology’s Pain Management Division, and UVA Police Department. If you would like to volunteer, please sign up.

2024 McGehee Lecture: Using Nursing Research to Address Maternal Health Equity in the Community

Tuesday, April 30 | noon-1 p.m. | Claude Moore Medical Education Building, Room 3001 | University of Massachusetts Amherst Associate Professor Lucinda Canty is a certified nurse midwife and Seedworks Health Equity in Nursing Program director. This presentation about using lived experience as a Black woman — along with poetry, art, and racial disparities research — offers a reproductive justice lens to improve racial disparities in maternal health.

Celebrate National Nurses Week

May 6-12 | In celebration of National Nurses Week, UVA Health is hosting a series of events, including an Evidence-Based Practice Symposium, drop-in party, Nursing Excellence Awards Ceremony, and more. Details. All team members are invited to participate in: 

• Nightingale Notables | Award a colleague with a 2024 Superlative Award. Available digitally or as a printable PowerPoint file.
• Late Nights at Higher Grounds | Extended hours to 2 a.m., May 6-12 | University Hospital Cafeteria
• Food Truck Friday | Friday, May 10 | 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Nominate a Nursing Assistant

Deadline: Thursday, May 9 | The Nursing Professional Governance Organization (NPGO) honors several nursing assistants each year for demonstrating excellence in their roles. Please consider nominating one or more of your well-deserving colleagues for these honors. Learn more and nominate. Questions? Email npgo@uvahealth.org. 

Appreciation

UVA President’s Run in Boston Marathon Raises $52,000+ for UVA Health Children’s

UVA President Jim Ryan’s 13th run in the Boston Marathon for UVA Health Children’s has proven to be his most successful ever! On April 19, he presented the more than $52,000 he raised to UVA Health leaders. Ryan’s runs in the 26.2-mile race have now raised more than $100,000 in total. 

More than 1,000 people donated to benefit UVA Health Children’s, which has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the No. 1 children’s hospital in Virginia for three consecutive years. The hospital has nine specialties ranked among the top 50 nationally.

Thank you to President Ryan and the incredible UVA and UVA Health team members and those in our community who supported him and UVA Health Children’s! Read more on Connect.

Friday, April 19

Planned Power Outage: New Switchgear Testing 

Wednesday, April 24 | 1-3 a.m. | Testing and commissioning of the new Switchgear will include 20 individual, short power outages of one minute. During these outages, the pneumatic tube system will be out of service. To accommodate operations, pneumatic tube runners will be available: two assigned to Pharmacy; one assigned to the Emergency Department; and five floating runners for University Hospital, Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center, and West Complex (Toxicology). Please note: 

• Not every department will experience every short power outage.
• The West and Central inpatient towers, East Garage, and miscellaneous distribution on floors 0, 1, and 2 will be included in outages 1-1:30 a.m.
• The East inpatient tower and miscellaneous distribution on floors 0, 1, and 2 will be included in the outages 1:30-2 a.m. 
• All floors mentioned above will be included in the outages 2-2:30 a.m.
• Extra time will be allowed for adjustments during testing 2:30-3 a.m.
• These outages only apply to normal power outlets and normal power lighting. Emergency power, red receptacles, and emergency power lighting will not be impacted. Please make sure that critical devices are plugged into red outlets during this window of time. 
• These outages mostly affect University Hospital, including patient towers. They do not affect the South Tower, South Addition, or operating rooms. Affected equipment includes dietary and laundry equipment, refrigerators and freezers, copy machines, desktop computers, and pumps and fans not on emergency power.

The above times do not include cords and walk-throughs prior to outages. Managers: please alert overnight staff. Questions? Contact Todd Gibson, Health System Physical Plant Electric, or Scott Guynes, Senior Construction Administration Manager, at 434.282.3794.

Patient Care

Essential Advance Care Planning Information Now Accessible From Epic Storyboard 

Advance Care Planning (ACP) is a critical process that helps adults of any age or health status understand and prepare for medical decisions they may face in the future. Effective mid-March, UVA Health implemented multiple Epic enhancements to ensure that ACP documentation is reliable, visible, and accessible in the medical record. Hovering over the ACP line in the patient Storyboard displays and links to information about a patient’s legally authorized healthcare decision maker and any ACP notes and ACP documents. Learn more on Connect.

Patient Outreach Encounters in Epic

Patient Outreach encounters are solely to be used by specialized Epic module users (e.g., Compass Rose Healthy Planet). If you are currently using the Patient Outreach encounter as a non specialized Epic module user, please discontinue and use a more appropriate encounter. For example: Documentation Only, Orders Only, Patient Message, Refill, or Telephone. If you have any questions, please contact the Epic Help Desk.

Operations

M11 Parking Closure: Crispell Drive

Saturday, April 20 | 7 a.m.-noon | To freshen the parking space lines, M11 parking along Crispell Drive will be closed. Alternative parking is available at South Garage. Questions? Contact Rick Welborn, Parking and Transportation Maintenance Manager, at 434.720.5684.

Fontaine Shuttle Expands Operations

Beginning Monday, April 22 | The Fontaine Research Park Shuttle will expand its operations to begin at 7 a.m. The first arrival stop at Fontaine Research Park will be at 7:10 a.m. (Encompass), an hour earlier than the current schedule. The Fontaine shuttle will operate Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m.

Review HIT Access Changes

UVA Health’s Use of Electronic Information and Systems policy requires supervisors and managers to annually review and confirm their employees’ access to systems with sensitive data. Beginning April 22, Health Information Technology (HIT) Information Security will implement a new process to ensure this policy is being met — including additional reminders of pending access reviews to supervisors and eventual access termination if access reviews remain incomplete. The reminder and escalation process will occur as follows: 

• 30 days prior to the annual renewal date, supervisors will begin receiving daily reminders of upcoming access reviews.
• When the annual access review becomes overdue — the employee, supervisors, and supervisor’s supervisor will be notified daily that 14 days remain to complete the access review or access will be terminated.
• After 14 days, access is terminated.
• After 14 additional days, if the access review is still not complete, a new access request must be entered to reinstate access.

Please note that any access reviews outstanding on April 22 will immediately begin the 14-day termination escalation. Please address any outstanding access reviews you may have as soon as possible. If access is terminated, please alert your supervisor and call the Help Desk at 434.924.5334.

This reminder and escalation process will help UVA Health maintain the security and privacy of our data. 

UVA Health In the News

Top Story

• Dr. Fern Hauck’s article for The Conversation on sudden unexpected infant death is featured in media outlets nationally, including Yahoo and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Patient Care

• Dr. Jonathan Garneau discusses oral cancer during this week’s NBC29 segment.
• Dr. Chris Holstege’s article for The Conversation on nitazenes is featured in media outlets nationally, including the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Houston Chronicle.
• Dr. William Petri talks with Yahoo about the rise in measles cases.
• Dr. Costi Sifri is featured locally and on TV stations nationally providing a COVID update.

Research

• Dr. Sula Mazimba is featured locally and on TV stations nationally discussing how a new AI tool could improve heart failure care.
• Research from Dr. Kathleen McManus is cited in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution story on the HIV crisis in Atlanta.
• Dr. Kenneth Walsh is featured on WSLS (Roanoke TV) discussing his heart failure research.

Community

• Amy Schmidt-Morris, Senior Advisor for Special Projects, is featured locally and on TV stations nationally discussing UVA Health Transplant Center’s pinwheel garden for Donate Life Month.

Education

• UVA School of Medicine student Quang Le is featured in Vascular Specialist discussing the potential impact of AI on vascular surgery.

Human Resources

FY24 Year-End Review for UVA Health

FY24 UVA Health self-evaluations launched on April 1. 

• Self-evaluations and FY25 goals are due to managers on April 30. 
• Outstanding self-evaluations will advance to managers at 9 a.m. on May 1. 
• All University Medical Center team members are required to complete their self-evaluation. 

Training is available in Workday Learning (5 minutes, asynchronous) for team members and leaders to help with completing the performance review and to provide tips on goal setting and feedback. Resources and additional details about the FY24 performance process can be found on the UVA Health Performance website. 

Happenings

Rotating Art Exhibit 

Through Wednesday, May 22 | University Medical Center lobby | UVA Health Arts Program presents “Virginia Hues 2024: The Art of Lea Boise.” (Pictured: “A Rosy Outlook,” oil paint on linen canvas.) Stop by and check it out!

World Voice Day Concert

Saturday, April 20 | 5-8 p.m. | Eastwood Farm and Winery | The UVA Voice Center is excited to welcome singers returning to the stage following vocal rehabilitation, followed by featured performers Robin and Linda Williams. This event is free to attend but will raise funds for the Music Health Alliance, a nonprofit providing healthcare resources for folks in the music industry. Contact Joanna Lott with questions.

Call for Abstracts: 2nd Annual UVA Health Interdisciplinary Quality Improvement/Patient Safety Showcase

Due Monday, April 22 | 11:59 p.m. | Showcase Tuesday, June 4 | This UVA Health patient safety event recognizes local improvements in quality improvement and patient safety from all disciplines. Participants will be selected to present a poster or give an oral presentation of their work. Learn more and submit. Questions? Contact Co-Chairs Amber Inofuentes, MD, Department of Medicine, or Elisa Hampton, MD, Department of Pediatrics.

Save a Life: Sign Up to Donate Blood 

Battle Building, First Floor | Quayle Learning Center | 1204 West Main St. | In celebration of Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, UVA Health is holding two blood drives. Sign up by emailing giveblood@uvahealth.org. Swag alert: Donate through April 28 and Red Cross will send you a $10 e-gift card. Also, you will be automatically entered to win a $7,000 gift card. Terms apply.

• Tuesday, April 23 | 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
• Thursday, April 25 | 2-6 p.m.

Enhancing Brain Health

Tuesday, April 23 | noon-1 p.m. | Zoom | Register | Join this Hoos Well reward-eligible webinar to learn from UVA neuropsychologist Carol Manning, PhD, about tips and strategies to keep your brain healthy throughout your life. This webinar also will illuminate potential warning signs the brain may be sending to you of possible concerns.

UVA Radiology Visiting Professor Lecture | ‘What’s That Whole Body Scan?’

Wednesday, April 24 | 7-10 a.m. | WebEx | Jennifer Schroeder, MD, Assistant Professor of Radiology and Associate Program Director of Diagnostic Radiology Residency, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, will deliver the lecture "What's That Whole Body Scan?" Learn more.

Menstrual Cup Giveaway

Wednesday, April 24 | 10 a.m.-2 p.m. | Pinn Hall, outside of the Health Sciences Library | Period poverty is the lack of access to menstrual products and inadequate education on menstruation. The effects of period poverty include physical and mental health, as well as a loss of productivity at work or school. The Menstrual Cup Giveaway aims to promote menstrual accessibility and sustainability within the community by providing free June Cups. Stop by to learn about menstrual equity and the benefits of using menstrual cups. Read on Connect about the Spark project that ignited change by making free period products accessible to team members and visitors.

Medical Center Hour | Saying What We Mean: How Medical Language Reveals and Conceals

Wednesday, April 24 | noon-1 p.m. | Leonard Sandridge Auditorium and Zoom | An interactive session on the uses and harms of habitual medical language, and an invitation to self-examination through the lens of the words we use in practice every day. Speaker Anna DeForest, MD, MFA, neurologist and supportive care physician, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; moderator Benjamin Martin, MD, Assistant Director, Programs in Health Humanities, UVA Health. Lunch provided for the first 40 in-person attendees. 

Office for Nursing Research Forum

Thursday, April 25 | noon-1 p.m. | Zoom | George Demiris is the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing’s Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor. He’ll discuss "smart home" solutions for aging, wearable monitoring devices that support independence and quality of life among older, community-dwelling adults, and his work to use technology to support patients and families across many settings, including home and hospice care. Lunch provided for the first 30 attendees. 

Enlighten Ice Cream Social and Information Session

Friday, April 26 | 1:30-2:30 p.m. | Education Resource Center, Room B | Register for this interactive webinar about UVA Enlighten, an online program that supports healthcare employees by paving a pathway toward a degree. Learn more and register.

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

Saturday, April 27 | 10 a.m.-2 p.m. | Outside Education Resource Center | In support of National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, UVA Health offers a safe way for everyone to dispose of unwanted or unused prescription medications and sharps containers, no questions asked! Please note: sharp instruments must be contained within a sharps container; no loose instruments will be accepted. Sponsored by UVA Health Pharmacy, UVA Health Anesthesiology’s Pain Management Division, and UVA Police Department. If you would like to volunteer, please sign up.

Nominate a Nursing Assistant

Deadline: Thursday, May 9 | The Nursing Professional Governance Organization (NPGO) honors several nursing assistants each year for demonstrating excellence in their roles. Please consider nominating one or more of your well-deserving colleagues for these honors. Learn more and nominate. Questions? Email npgo@uvahealth.org. 

Deadline Extended: ​​Charles L. Brown Award

New deadline: Friday, May 17 | 5 p.m. | The Charles L. Brown Award for Patient Care Quality is UVA Health’s annual award for a care team who has worked to move our quality and patient safety efforts forward. Sponsored by the Department of Quality and Performance Improvement, this award offers a $10,000 prize to a team or teams to recognize excellence in patient care. Submit an application. Questions? Contact Jeff Lucas, Director, Performance Improvement, at 434.243.1755.

Appreciation

'The Littlest Efforts Are a Big Deal' | Kudos for Our UVA Health Colleagues

To provide the best possible service and care for our community, UVA Health regularly surveys our patients on their recent healthcare experience. Below is a small selection of recent feedback praising our outstanding team members:

• “I have encouraged people to go to UVA Health no matter what health conditions they have. In my opinion, it is the best hospital in the nation. If it hadn't been for the best surgeons and staff, I would not be here. The nurses are top notch. I can't say enough good things about UVA Health.”
• “Dr. O was fantastic. Never in 55 years could I see as clear as I can see now. Great surgeon. Should have had this earlier!”
• “Some of the littlest efforts are a big deal. The anesthesiologist twice touched the top of my head just as I was going under. I know it sounds small, but the feeling it gave me was one of security and safety.”
• “Dr. Quillian did an amazing job transitioning to teen-appropriate care. Made my daughter think she was cool and approachable. Very thankful that if she ever needs to discuss something private, the foundation for feeling like this is a safe place is already being established. Also, spoke to her with respect, nothing kid-ish or condescending — and she commented on that after. Masterfully done by Dr. Q.”

Thanks to all our team members for providing outstanding, compassionate, and safe care.

Wednesday, April 17

Becker’s Hospital Review Names UVA Health to ‘Top Places to Work in Healthcare’ List

National healthcare publication Becker’s Hospital Review has named UVA Health to its 2024 list of “150 top places to work in healthcare.”

“This list highlights hospitals, health systems, and healthcare companies that prioritize workplace excellence and the happiness, satisfaction, wellbeing and fulfillment of their employees,” Becker’s said in its introduction to this year’s honorees. “These organizations offer robust benefits packages, professional and personal development opportunities, diverse work environments and the resources necessary for work-life balance. When employees feel respected and cared for, their organizations thrive — and these companies are prime examples of this golden rule.” 

The publication lauded UVA Health for a turnover rate below the national average for health systems and for launching a 10-year strategic plan for continued success in the years ahead. Read the full release on Connect.

Patient Care

Essential Advance Care Planning Information Now Accessible From Epic Storyboard 

Advance Care Planning (ACP) is a critical process that helps adults of any age or health status understand and prepare for medical decisions they may face in the future. Effective mid-March, UVA Health implemented multiple Epic enhancements to ensure that ACP documentation is reliable, visible, and accessible in the medical record. Hovering over the ACP line in the patient Storyboard displays and links to information about a patient’s legally authorized healthcare decision maker and any ACP notes and ACP documents. Learn more on Connect.

Reminder: Renew Your BLS, ACLS, and PALS Certifications

Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) certifications are crucial requirements for many of our medical providers and frontline team members. It is our policy and is also a regulatory requirement evaluated by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and The Joint Commission during routine inspections. For more information, including which roles are required to have certifications in place, please reference the Emergency Response Training Medical Center Policy. Certification renewal can be arranged through UVA Health’s Life Support Learning Center. If you have questions about ACLS, BLS, or PALS certifications, please contact your HR Business Partner.

Operations

UVA Health Kicks Off Multiyear Website Evolution 

UVA Health announced its first steps in what will be a multiyear journey to enhance its online presence — a journey that will make its web properties the most sophisticated in the industry, the most adept at listening and learning from patients and referring providers, and the most responsive to their combined needs. It’s a journey that will unite our websites across the system and truly reflect our brand as one UVA Health. 

To kick things off, UVA Health recently released several updates to uvahealth.com and childrens.uvahealth.com including homepage redesigns, new search experience,and newly designed provider and location profiles, with more updates slated for the near future. This represents several months of work among Marketing and Strategic Communications, Patient Experience, Patient Access, and Health Information Technology — all of which worked together to fully understand the digital experience of our patients, as well as what opportunities UVA Health has to grow, advance, and improve. Read more on Connect.

Review HIT Access Changes

UVA Health’s Use of Electronic Information and Systems policy requires supervisors and managers to annually review and confirm their employees’ access to systems with sensitive data. Beginning April 22, Health Information Technology (HIT) Information Security will implement a new process to ensure this policy is being met — including additional reminders of pending access reviews to supervisors and eventual access termination if access reviews remain incomplete. The reminder and escalation process will occur as follows: 

• 30 days prior to the annual renewal date, supervisors will begin receiving daily reminders of upcoming access reviews.
• When the annual access review becomes overdue, the employee, supervisors, and supervisor’s supervisor will be notified daily that 14 days remain to complete the access review or access will be terminated.
• After 14 days, access is terminated.
• After 14 additional days, if the access review is still not complete, a new access request must be entered to reinstate access.

Please note that any access reviews outstanding on April 22 will immediately begin the 14-day termination escalation. Please address any outstanding access reviews you may have as soon as possible. If access is terminated, please alert your supervisor and call the Help Desk at 434.924.5334.

This reminder and escalation process will help UVA Health maintain the security and privacy of our data. 

Fontaine Shuttle Expands Operations

Beginning Monday, April 22 | The Fontaine Research Park Shuttle will expand its operations to begin at 7 a.m. The first arrival stop at Fontaine Research Park will be at 7:10 a.m. (Encompass), an hour earlier than the current schedule. The Fontaine shuttle will operate Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m.

Planned Power Outage: New Switchgear Testing 

Wednesday, April 24 | 1-3 a.m. | Testing and commissioning of the new Switchgear will include 20 individual, short power outages of one minute. During these outages, the pneumatic tube system will be out of service. To accommodate operations, pneumatic tube runners will be available: two assigned to Pharmacy; one assigned to the Emergency Department; and five floating runners for University Hospital, Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center, and West Complex (Toxicology). Please note: 

• Not every department will experience every short power outage.
• The West and Central inpatient towers, East Garage, and miscellaneous distribution on floors 0, 1, and 2 will be included in outages 1-1:30 a.m.
• The East inpatient tower and miscellaneous distribution on floors 0, 1, and 2 will be included in the outages 1:30-2 a.m. 
• All floors mentioned above will be included in the outages 2-2:30 a.m.
• Extra time will be allowed for adjustments during testing 2:30-3 a.m.
• These outages only apply to normal power outlets and normal power lighting. Emergency power, red receptacles, and emergency power lighting will not be impacted. Please make sure that critical devices are plugged into red outlets during this window of time. 
• These outages mostly affect University Hospital, including patient towers. They do not affect the South Tower, South Addition, or operating rooms. Affected equipment includes dietary and laundry equipment, refrigerators and freezers, copy machines, desktop computers, and pumps and fans not on emergency power.

The above times do not include cords and walk-throughs prior to outages. Managers: please alert overnight staff. Questions? Contact Todd Gibson, Health System Physical Plant Electric, or Scott Guynes, Senior Construction Administration Manager, at 434.282.3794.

Leadership

Special MCMG Leadership Meeting

Thursday, April 18 | noon-4:30 p.m. | John Paul Jones Arena | University Medical Center leaders are invited to an extended, in-person Medical Center Management Group (MCMG) meeting to allow for more time to connect with colleagues. All University Medical Center managers and above are strongly encouraged to attend. The theme is “Inform. Inspire. Empower.” Parking is available. Boxed lunches will be provided.

Save the Date: UVA Health Town Hall

Tuesday, May 7 | noon-1 p.m. | Sandridge Auditorium and Livestream (link to come) | Join K. Craig Kent, MD, CEO of UVA Health, and other UVA Health leaders to learn more about the top priorities and latest developments for our organization as we continue our momentum as One Future Together | Health and Hope for All. There will be a special segment dedicated to celebrating nurses in honor of National Nurses Week. 

University Medical Center CEO Blog | Expanded Discharge Lounge Provides a New Step in the Care Continuum

In her new Vision and Voice post, Wendy Horton shares our latest initiative to improve timely discharges while enhancing patient safety and satisfaction. Read more. 

Happenings

Earth Month: A Celebration of Our Shared Planet

Through April 31 | Each year, UVA Sustainability partners with organizations across UVA and the Charlottesville-area community to host more than 40 celebrations such as cleanups, clothing swaps, book talks, workshops, e-bike demos, garden days, and more. See the full schedule and mark your calendars.

Second Annual Nursing and Medicine Community Festival

Thursday, April 18 | 5-7 p.m. | Courtyard between MR5 and MR6 | Nursing and medical students and their clinician colleagues can enjoy music, games, trivia, and food at this event sponsored by UVA School of Nursing; Inclusion, Diversity, and Excellence Achievement (IDEA) team; and UVA Health Cancer Center.

Nominate: Hoos Building Bridges Award 

Deadline: Friday, April 19 | This award acknowledges the cross-disciplinary partnerships and projects of staff and team members. Recipients demonstrate leadership and build thoughtful collaborations and relationships across schools, units, and/or departments. Learn more and nominate. Questions? Please email AskHR@virginia.edu.

World Voice Day Concert

Saturday, April 20 | 5-8 p.m. | Eastwood Farm and Winery | The UVA Voice Center is excited to welcome singers returning to the stage following vocal rehabilitation, followed by featured performers Robin and Linda Williams. This event is free to attend but will raise funds for the Music Health Alliance, a nonprofit providing healthcare resources for folks in the music industry. Contact Joanna Lott with questions.

Save a Life: Sign Up to Donate Blood 

Battle Building, First Floor | Quayle Learning Center | 1204 West Main St. | In celebration of Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, UVA Health is holding two blood drives. Sign up by emailing giveblood@uvahealth.org. Swag alert: Donate through April 28 and Red Cross will send you a $10 e-gift card. Also, you will be automatically entered to win a $7,000 gift card. Terms apply.

• Tuesday, April 23 | 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
• Thursday, April 25 | 2-6 p.m.

Menstrual Cup Giveaway

Wednesday, April 24 | 10 a.m.-2 p.m. | Pinn Hall, outside of the Health Sciences Library | Period poverty is the lack of access to menstrual products and inadequate education on menstruation. The effects of period poverty include physical and mental health, as well as a loss of productivity at work or school. The Menstrual Cup Giveaway aims to promote menstrual accessibility and sustainability within the community by providing free June Cups. Stop by to learn about menstrual equity and the benefits of using menstrual cups. Read on Connect about the Spark project that ignited change by making free period products accessible to team members and visitors.

Medical Center Hour | Saying What We Mean: How Medical Language Reveals and Conceals

Wednesday, April 24 | noon-1 p.m. | Leonard Sandridge Auditorium and Zoom | An interactive session on the uses and harms of habitual medical language, and an invitation to self-examination through the lens of the words we use in practice every day. Speaker Anna DeForest, MD, MFA, neurologist and supportive care physician, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; moderator Benjamin Martin, MD, Assistant Director, Programs in Health Humanities, UVA Health. Lunch provided for the first 40 in-person attendees. 

Office for Nursing Research Forum

Thursday, April 25 | noon-1 p.m. | Zoom | George Demiris is the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing’s Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor. He’ll discuss "smart home" solutions for aging, wearable monitoring devices that support independence and quality of life among older, community-dwelling adults, and his work to use technology to support patients and families across many settings, including home and hospice care. Lunch provided for the first 30 attendees. 

Enlighten Ice Cream Social and Information Session

Friday, April 26 | 1:30-2:30 p.m. | Education Resource Center, Room B | Register for this interactive webinar about UVA Enlighten, an online program that supports healthcare employees by paving a pathway toward a degree. Learn more and register.

Visiting Professor Lecture: Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging

Thursday, May 2 | 4-5 p.m. | Moss Auditorium | Rachelle Crescenzi, PhD, Assistant Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, will deliver the lecture, “Visualizing Vascular Mechanisms of Tissue Sodium Storage.” Learn more.

Team Member Art Day — Back by Popular Demand!

Friday, May 3 | 1-3 p.m. | Dining Conference Rooms 1, 2, and 3 | Drop in for a creative break in your day. All art supplies will be provided. Hosted by The Fralin Museum of Art at UVA. Free for all UVA Health team members.

Introduction to Mindfulness for Healthcare Employees

Wednesdays, May 8- June 12 | 6-7:30 p.m. | Zoom | Register | In today’s fast-paced world, stress affects us in many ways. How we respond to stress, directly affects our health and well-being. 

Appreciation

School of Nursing | #MeetUsMonday

Every Monday, UVA School of Nursing posts a #MeetUsMonday story, where team members can get to know one of our nursing students. Recent entries include:

• Sarah Russell-Hunter | (pictured left) Violinist since age six, former Front Porch jammer, and member of the Charlottesville Symphony Orchestra. A Clinical Nurse Leader master’s student, Arlington  native, and a certified nursing assistant. Lizard mom to leopard gecko “Felix,” a newbie crocheter, Suzuki method violin instructor, and uber fan of film scores (The Grand Budapest Hotel is a current favorite).
• Melany Santos | (pictured right) Poet. Richmond native. First-gen college student who can thread her own eyebrows and who traveled to Puebla, Mexico, as part of an art-themed study abroad. Loves cooking pulique, a savory Guatemalan dish, along with her mom and her professors Christine Connelly (“I love her; who doesn’t?”) Ashley Apple (“She’s amazing!”), and Emily Evans (“Such a sweet soul!”). BSN student and future labor and delivery nurse.

Visit Connect or the School of Nursing website every Monday for new installments of #MeetUsMonday. Thank you for sharing, Sarah and Melany!

Monday, April 15

Expanding the NICU

Monday, April 15 | To expand Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) services to our community, 8 North increased from four to six beds. The West entrance of 8 North will be the primary entry point, and the NICU will move to occupy beds 8131-8136, while 8125-8130 will be closed for construction. 

Construction will continue through the end of May, at which point 8 North will become a 12-bed unit, dedicated to NICU patients.  

Ambulatory

March Ambulatory Progress Report Available Now

Learn about the recently established UVA Health Ambulatory Quality Collaborative, tips on filtering data in the data portal, the start of One Team | United on Access optimization work for Wave 1 and 2 specialties, and other critical updates in the March Ambulatory Operations Progress Report. 

Patient Care

CMS Now Requires Social Determinants of Health Screening  

On April 9, the five required Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) domains went live in the Admission Navigator in Epic for all patients — excluding Emergency Department (ED) patients — to be screened. ED and ambulatory patients will be included in Phase 2 implementation, which is scheduled to roll out in late summer. The screening will be administered by nurses and social workers as part of the required nursing admission history. Patients identified as high risk will trigger an Epic BPA for a multidisciplinary consult order to the Inpatient Social Work team. The team will meet with the patient, complete additional screening, and provide resources and support. Additional information is available in Workday. Read more on Connect.

Operations

Traffic Enforcement 

UVA Police is monitoring the 11th Street and Emmet/Ivy Garages on an ongoing basis and will conduct traffic enforcement as needed. Monitoring and enforcement is a result of numerous complaints concerning vehicles driving at excessive speeds as they exit these garages. Police officers will issue warnings and uniform summons to violators.

NVERS Medical Response and Surge Exercise

Tuesday, April 16 | 9 a.m.-4 p.m. | Emergency Department, University Hospital | UVA Health is participating in the Northern Virginia Emergency Response System (NVERS) Medical Response and Surge Exercise (MRSE), an operations-based exercise which evaluates our capacity to manage a large-scale, community-wide patient surge. MRSE will help us evaluate our ability to provide patients the care they need at the right place and time, with the right resources during medical surge to decrease deaths, injuries, and illnesses resulting from medical surge. This exercise will include multiple departments throughout University Hospital. To prepare, please review Red Book procedures with your staff prior to April 16. Questions? Contact Carlee Porch, Emergency Management Coordinator.

Fontaine Shuttle Expands Operations

Beginning Monday, April 22 | The Fontaine Research Park Shuttle will expand its operations to begin at 7 a.m. The first arrival stop at Fontaine Research Park will be at 7:10 a.m. (Encompass), an hour earlier than the current schedule. The Fontaine shuttle will operate Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m.

Review HIT Access Changes

UVA Health’s Use of Electronic Information and Systems policy requires supervisors and managers to annually review and confirm their employees’ access to systems with sensitive data. Beginning April 22, Health Information Technology (HIT) Information Security will implement a new process to ensure this policy is being met — including additional reminders of pending access reviews to supervisors and eventual access termination if access reviews remain incomplete. The reminder and escalation process will occur as follows: 

• 30 days prior to the annual renewal date, supervisors will begin receiving daily reminders of upcoming access reviews.
• When the annual access review becomes overdue, the employee, supervisors, and supervisor’s supervisor will be notified daily that 14 days remain to complete the access review or access will be terminated.
• After 14 days, access is terminated.
• After 14 additional days, if the access review is still not complete, a new access request must be entered to reinstate access.

Please note that any access reviews outstanding on April 22 will immediately begin the 14-day termination escalation. Please address any outstanding access reviews you may have as soon as possible. If access is terminated, please alert your supervisor and call the Help Desk at 434.924.5334.

This reminder and escalation process will help UVA Health maintain the security and privacy of our data. 

Hyperdrive Training Materials Available Now

The Health Information Technology (HIT) team will implement Epic Hyperdrive across all UVA Health entities this spring. Hyperdrive is Epic’s custom web browser, and the new way team members will access Epic to complete routine patient care activities. To make the transition to Hyperdrive easier for our team members, we will go live in phases:

• UVA Health Culpeper Medical Center: Wednesday, April 24
• All Remaining Sites: Wednesday, May 22

Read more on Connect.

Leadership

Special MCMG Leadership Meeting

Thursday, April 18 | noon-4:30 p.m. | John Paul Jones Arena | This month, University Medical Center leaders are invited to an extended, in-person Medical Center Management Group (MCMG) meeting to allow for more time to connect with colleagues. All University Medical Center managers and above are strongly encouraged to attend. The theme is “Inform. Inspire. Empower.” Parking is available. Boxed lunches will be provided.

Happenings

April Is National Donate Life Month

According to Donate Life Virginia, two people in the Commonwealth of Virginia die weekly waiting for the “gift of an organ that does not come.” Living donation reduces wait times for patients, greatly improving their chance of survival. During Donate Life Month, learn more about how you can become a living kidney or liver donor and access other organ donation resources. 

ROSE Program: Drop Off or Pick Up Reusable Office Supplies

Tuesday, April 16 | 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. | Medical Center Dining Conference Rooms 1 and 2 | Reusable Office Supply Exchange (ROSE) Program is a free service that collects new or gently used office supplies. Drop off office supplies or take what you need monthly. 

Unearthing Black Midwifery Stories in Virginia

Tuesday, April 16 | noon-1 p.m. | McLeod Hall, room 5060 and Zoom | Join Randolph Awardee and scholar Linda Janet Holmes for a Bjoring Center history forum on findings from her interviews with midwife descendants, mothers, doulas, and contemporary healthcare providers who recognize the contributions of historic Black midwifery care and traditions in Charlottesville and surrounding communities. Learn more.

UVA Pipelines and Pathways: Grow Your Career With Public Speaking 

Tuesday, April 16 | noon-1:30 p.m. | Learn the basics for building your career and get the tools you need to obtain your dream job at UVA or UVA Health. Presented by Kristine Vey, LEED AP ID+C, UVA Construction Project Manager and Professional Development Coordinator. Questions? Contact Hollie Lee at 434.962.3996. Learn more and register.

Physicians and APPs: Get a New Provider Directory Headshot

McKim Hall | Ground Floor, Room G045 | Physicians and advanced practice providers: get a new or updated headshot taken in 10 minutes or less on dates listed below. No appointment needed. Bring a white coat if you have one; if not, one will be provided.

• Wednesday, April 17 | 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Friday, April 26 | noon-3 p.m.
• Monday, April 29 | 9 a.m.-noon

ECHO: The Management of Chronic Infections

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of collaboration among clinicians to address specific needs and challenges associated with providing care for people living in congregate communities. Free CME to registered attendees. Register. 

• Wednesday, April 17: Primary Care Perspective, Hep C and HIV
• Wednesday, May 15: Focus on Hepatitis C 
• Wednesday, June 12: Focus on HIV

Office for Nursing Research Forum

Thursday, April 18 | noon-1 p.m. | McLeod 5060 | George Demiris, University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor at its School of Nursing, will discuss "smart home" solutions for aging, wearable monitoring devices that support independence and quality of life among older, community-dwelling adults, and his work to use technology to support patients and families across many settings, including home and hospice care. Lunch provided for the first 30 attendees. 

Nominate: Hoos Building Bridges Award 

Deadline: Friday, April 19 | This award acknowledges the cross-disciplinary partnerships and projects of staff and team members. Recipients demonstrate leadership and build thoughtful collaborations and relationships across schools, units, and/or departments. Learn more and nominate. Questions? Please email AskHR@virginia.edu.

Call for Abstracts: 2nd Annual UVA Health Interdisciplinary Quality Improvement/Patient Safety Showcase

Due Monday, April 22 | 11:59 p.m. | Showcase Tuesday, June 4 | This UVA Health patient safety event recognizes local improvements in quality improvement and patient safety from all disciplines. Participants will be selected to present a poster or give an oral presentation of their work. Learn more and submit. Questions? Contact Co-Chairs Amber Inofuentes, MD, Department of Medicine, or Elisa Hampton, MD, Department of Pediatrics.

Save a Life: Sign Up to Donate Blood 

Battle Building, First Floor | Quayle Learning Center | 1204 West Main St. | In celebration of Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, UVA Health is holding two blood drives. Sign up by emailing giveblood@uvahealth.org. Swag alert: Donate blood products through April 28 and Red Cross will send you a $10 e-gift card. Also, you will be automatically entered to win a $7,000 gift card. Terms apply.

• Tuesday, April 23 | 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
• Thursday, April 25 | 2-6 p.m.

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

Saturday, April 27 | 10 a.m.-2 p.m. | Outside Education Resource Center | In support of National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, UVA Health offers a safe way for everyone to dispose of unwanted or unused prescription medications and sharps containers, no questions asked! Please note: sharp instruments must be contained within a sharps container; no loose instruments will be accepted. Sponsored by UVA Health Pharmacy, UVA Health Anesthesiology’s Pain Management Division, and UVA Police Department. If you would like to volunteer, please sign up.

Nominate a Nursing Assistant

Deadline: Thursday, May 9 | The Nursing Professional Governance Organization (NPGO) honors several nursing assistants each year for demonstrating excellence in their roles. Please consider nominating one or more of your well-deserving colleagues for these honors. Learn more and nominate. Questions? Email npgo@uvahealth.org. 

Deadline Extended: ​​Charles L. Brown Award

New deadline: Friday, May 17 | 5 p.m. | The Charles L. Brown Award for Patient Care Quality is UVA Health’s annual award for a care team who has worked to move our quality and patient safety efforts forward. Sponsored by the Department of Quality and Performance Improvement, this award offers a $10,000 prize to a team or teams to recognize excellence in patient care. Submit an application. Questions? Contact Jeff Lucas, Director, Performance Improvement, at 434.243.1755.

Appreciation

Thank You, Laboratory Team Members!

National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week is April 14-20, an annual celebration of medical lab professionals and pathologists who play a vital role in every aspect of healthcare. 

Lab professionals include phlebotomists, specimen management techs, medical lab scientists, histotechnologists, cytotechnologists, pathologist assistants, cellular therapy specialists, customer service, computing analysts, and more. They work behind the scenes throughout UVA Health to perform 4.3 million lab tests per year to assist clinicians with patient diagnoses, treatments and disease monitoring or prevention. 

This year’s Lab Week theme, “The Lab is everything,” recognizes the crucial work laboratorians perform every day to ensure accurate and timely lab results, using their unique skills and knowledge behind the scenes to help heal patients and save lives.

The professionalism, dedication, and quality of work is patient-centric, unwavering, and inspiring. In gratitude to our laboratory professionals who provide UVA Health with myriad and complex lab testing — happy Lab Week!

Friday, April 12

Hyperdrive Training Materials Available Now

The Health Information Technology (HIT) team will implement Epic Hyperdrive across all UVA Health entities this spring. Hyperdrive is Epic’s custom web browser, and the new way team members will access Epic to complete routine patient care activities. To make the transition to Hyperdrive easier for our team members, we will go live in phases:

• UVA Health Culpeper Medical Center: Wednesday, April 24
• All Remaining Sites: Wednesday, May 22

Read more on Connect.

Ambulatory

March Ambulatory Progress Report Available Now

Learn about the recently established UVA Health Ambulatory Quality Collaborative, tips on filtering data in the data portal, the start of One Team | United on Access optimization work for Wave 1 and 2 specialties, and other critical updates in the March Ambulatory Operations Progress Report. 

Patient Care

CMS Now Requires Social Determinants of Health Screening  

On April 9, the five required Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) domains went live in the Admission Navigator in Epic for all patients — excluding Emergency Department (ED) patients — to be screened. ED patients will be included in Phase 2 implementation, which is scheduled to roll out in late summer. The screening will be administered by nurses and social workers as part of the required nursing admission history. Patients identified as high risk will trigger an Epic BPA for a multidisciplinary consult order to the Inpatient Social Work team. The team will meet with the patient, complete additional screening, and provide resources and support. Additional information is available in Workday. Read more on Connect.

Operations

Survey: Earn While You Learn

UVA Health is working actively on programs to help support team members become nurses and to assist current nurses who wish to advance their careers. The Earn While You Learn program is seeking information for those interested in future programs. Please complete this survey to provide information and help guide planning efforts. 

NVERS Medical Response and Surge Exercise

Tuesday, April 16 | 9 a.m.-4 p.m. | Emergency Department, University Hospital | UVA Health is participating in the Northern Virginia Emergency Response System (NVERS) Medical Response and Surge Exercise (MRSE), an operations-based exercise which evaluates our capacity to manage a large-scale, community-wide patient surge. MRSE will help us evaluate our ability to provide patients the care they need at the right place and time, with the right resources during medical surge to decrease deaths, injuries, and illnesses resulting from medical surge. This exercise will include multiple departments throughout University Hospital. To prepare, please review Red Book procedures with your staff prior to April 16. Questions? Contact Carlee Porch, Emergency Management Coordinator.

Fontaine Shuttle Expands Operations

Beginning Monday, April 22 | The Fontaine Research Park Shuttle will expand its operations to begin at 7 a.m. The first arrival stop at Fontaine Research Park will be at 7:10 a.m. (Encompass), an hour earlier than the current schedule. The Fontaine shuttle will operate Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m.

Review HIT Access Changes

UVA Health’s Use of Electronic Information and Systems policy requires supervisors and managers to annually review and confirm their employees’ access to systems with sensitive data. Beginning April 22, Health Information Technology (HIT) Information Security will implement a new process to ensure this policy is being met — including additional reminders of pending access reviews to supervisors and eventual access termination if access reviews remain incomplete. The reminder and escalation process will occur as follows: 

• 30 days prior to the annual renewal date, supervisors will begin receiving daily reminders of upcoming access reviews.
• When the annual access review becomes overdue, the employee, supervisors, and supervisor’s supervisor will be notified daily that 14 days remain to complete the access review or access will be terminated.
• After 14 days, access is terminated.
• After 14 additional days, if the access review is still not complete, a new access request must be entered to reinstate access.

Please note that any access reviews outstanding on April 22 will immediately begin the 14-day termination escalation. Please address any outstanding access reviews you may have as soon as possible. If access is terminated, please alert your supervisor and call the Help Desk at 434.924.5334.

This reminder and escalation process will help UVA Health maintain the security and privacy of our data. 

Tune in to the Nightingale Channel

UVA Health has partnered to launch a new arts initiative, The Nightingale Channel, to bring classical and chamber music to our patients, team members, and guests — inspiring hope and wellness for all. Accessed through a QR code, this new offering provides a well-curated collection of intimate concerts including Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven. Learn more. (Note: To access the link, you must be on a UVA Health network or using VPN.)

Leadership

Special MCMG Leadership Meeting

Thursday, April 18 | noon-4:30 p.m. | John Paul Jones Arena | This month, University Medical Center leaders are invited to an extended, in-person Medical Center Management Group (MCMG) meeting to allow for more time to connect with colleagues. All University Medical Center (including ambulatory) managers and above are strongly encouraged to attend. The theme is “Inform. Inspire. Empower.” Parking is available. Boxed lunches will be provided.

University Medical Center CEO Blog | Joy is Service: Thank You, UVA Health Volunteers!

It's National Volunteer Month and, in her new Vision and Voice post, Wendy Horton says thank you to all who contribute time and energy to volunteering. Read more. 

UVA Health In the News

Top Story

• UVA Health is honored on Becker’s Hospital Review’s list of top places to work in healthcare.

Patient Care

• Dr. Curtis Argo discusses living liver donation during this week’s NBC29 segment.
• Dr. Lydia Luu talks with The New York Times about whether apple cider vinegar is an effective home remedy for eczema.
• Dr. Craig Kent talks with Chief Healthcare Executive magazine about his contract extension and UVA Health’s expansion plans.
• CEO Wendy Horton talks with WINA about topics that include our new comprehensive Parkinson’s disease clinic.

Research

• Dr. Jeff Elias receives one of Modern Healthcare’s 2024 Innovators awards for his pioneering work on focused ultrasound.
• Dr. Craig Kent discusses his research into a new “paint” that could spare patients repeated surgeries on the VHHA podcast (also broadcast on radio stations across Virginia).
• Dr. Melina Kibbe talks with CBS19 about the new director of the NanoSTAR Institute.
• UVA School of Nursing Professor Tracy Kelly talks with WVTF (Virginia NPR affiliate) about a conference discussing the health effects of hotter weather.

Community

• UVA Softball’s visit to UVA Health Children’s is featured on NBC29 and TV stations nationally.

Education

• Dean Marianne Baernholdt talks with NBC29 (also shared on TV stations nationally) about UVA School of Nursing’s U.S. News rankings.
• Dr. Kathryn Mutter talks with AAMC News about a bootcamp to prepare UVA School of Medicine students for residencies. 

Happenings

​​Call for Nominations: 2024 Thomas Jefferson Awards

Deadline: Monday, April 15 | noon | The Thomas Jefferson Awards are the highest honors given to members of the University community. Award recipients exemplify the principles, ideals, and mission of the University in their character, work, and influence. The committee is now soliciting nominations for two Jefferson Awards — one for service and one for scholarship. Learn more. Questions? Contact the Thomas Jefferson Awards Committee or Cecil Banks, Executive Director for Major Events and External Relations. 

ROSE Program: Drop Off or Pick Up Reusable Office Supplies

Tuesday, April 16 | 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. | Medical Center Dining Conference Rooms 1 and 2 | Reusable Office Supply Exchange (ROSE) Program is a free service that collects new or gently used office supplies. Drop off office supplies or take what you need monthly. 

Unearthing Black Midwifery Stories in Virginia

Tuesday, April 16 | noon-1 p.m. | McLeod Hall, room 5060 and Zoom | Join Randolph Awardee and scholar Linda Janet Holmes for a Bjoring Center history forum on findings from her interviews with midwife descendants, mothers, doulas, and contemporary healthcare providers who recognize the contributions of historic Black midwifery care and traditions in Charlottesville and surrounding communities. Learn more.

UVA Pipelines and Pathways: Grow Your Career With Public Speaking 

Tuesday, April 16 | noon-1:30 p.m. | Learn the basics for building your career and get the tools you need to obtain your dream job at UVA or UVA Health. Presented by Kristine Vey, LEED AP ID+C, UVA Construction Project Manager and Professional Development Coordinator. Questions? Contact Hollie Lee at 434.962.3996. Learn more and register.

ECHO: The Management of Chronic Infections

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of collaboration among clinicians to address specific needs and challenges associated with providing care for people living in congregate communities. Free CME to registered attendees. Register. 

• Wednesday, April 17: Primary Care Perspective, Hep C and HIV
• Wednesday, May 15: Focus on Hepatitis C 
• Wednesday, June 12: Focus on HIV

Office for Nursing Research Forum

Thursday, April 18 | noon-1 p.m. | McLeod 5060 | George Demiris, University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor at its School of Nursing, will discuss "smart home" solutions for aging, wearable monitoring devices that support independence and quality of life among older, community-dwelling adults, and his work to use technology to support patients and families across many settings, including home and hospice care. Lunch provided for the first 30 attendees. 

Call for Abstracts: 2nd Annual UVA Health Interdisciplinary Quality Improvement/Patient Safety Showcase

Due Monday, April 22 | 11:59 p.m. | Showcase Tuesday, June 4 | This UVA Health patient safety event recognizes local improvements in quality improvement and patient safety from all disciplines. Participants will be selected to present a poster or give an oral presentation of their work. Learn more and submit. Questions? Contact Co-Chairs Amber Inofuentes, MD, Department of Medicine, or Elisa Hampton, MD, Department of Pediatrics.

Enlighten Ice Cream Social and Information Session

Friday, April 26 | 1:30-2:30 p.m. | Education Resource Center, Room B | Register for this interactive webinar about UVA Enlighten, an online program that supports healthcare employees by paving a pathway toward a degree. Learn more and register.

Save the Date: Annual Team Member Art Exhibit

July 11-Sept. 11 | Many team members have expressed interest in the annual Team Member Art Exhibit. This year, the exhibit will run from July to September. Watch this space in May for participation details. We look forward to seeing your art!

Appreciation

'Patient, Kind, and Understanding' | Kudos for Our UVA Health Colleagues

To provide the best possible service and care for our community, UVA Health regularly surveys our patients on their recent healthcare experience. Below is a small selection of recent feedback praising our outstanding team members:

• “I have to give a huge shoutout to the guy who did my son's EEG. He was super helpful in keeping my son comfortable and calm throughout the test and ensuring I understood what he was doing. Super friendly and just a very good experience. I can't remember his name, but I am sure you all can figure it out to let him know he's doing a great job!”
• “Jess always listens to my concerns with care and compassion. She is always friendly and professional. When changes need to be made, she gives clear and thoughtful explanations. When changes should not be made, she explains why. She always makes me feel better and alleviates my worries. I have complete confidence in her.”
• “My son was very impressed and encouraged by his visit with Dr. Dacus. [My son], unsolicited, reported that ‘Dr. Dacus was awesome!’ I think he appreciated the care and respect he was shown as a child; that his concerns weren't minimized. He felt he could relate well to his provider.”
• “Nurses Kiersten, Ashley, and Brooke were absolutely amazing! I don't know what I would have done without them. They were so patient, kind, and understanding. Kiersten listened to my concerns and spoke up for me when I didn't have a voice (from being in so much pain). Ashley was the best labor and delivery nurse. She was so excited for me and did everything she could to make me comfortable. Brooke was my recovery nurse, and she helped me during my most vulnerable moments after birth. I'm so thankful I had her during the first two days, because she checked on me often and helped me learn how to care for myself and my baby. I'm so thankful for these ladies!”

Thanks to all our team members for providing outstanding, compassionate, and safe care.

Wednesday, April 10

UVA School of Nursing Ranked Among Top in Country by U.S. News & World Report

The University of Virginia’s nursing school has again earned top national rankings in a prestigious annual report issued by U.S. News & World Report. 

According to U.S. News & World Report’s 2024-2025 Best Graduate Schools guide, the UVA School of Nursing ranks 18th overall and 11th among public institutions for its master’s degree programs and 31st overall and 22nd among public institutions for its Doctor of Nursing Practice programs.

Of note, the UVA School of Nursing’s Nurse Practitioner-MSN Adult Gerontology Acute Care program was also ranked for the first time by U.S. News & World Report and is 7th in the nation.

U.S. News & World Report ranks nursing schools based on factors that include peer assessments, research funding, faculty resources and the selectivity of the programs. Read more on Connect.

Patient Care

CMS Now Requires Social Determinants of Health Screening  

On April 9, the five required Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) domains went live in the Admission Navigator in Epic for all patients — excluding Emergency Department (ED) patients — to be screened. ED patients will be included in Phase 2 implementation, which is scheduled to roll out in late summer. The screening will be administered by nurses and social workers as part of the required nursing admission history. Patients identified as high risk will trigger an Epic BPA for a multidisciplinary consult order to the Inpatient Social Work team. The team will meet with the patient, complete additional screening, and provide resources and support. Additional information is available in Workday. Read more on Connect.

Reminder: Renew Your BLS, ACLS, and PALS Certifications

Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) certifications are crucial requirements for many of our medical providers and frontline team members. It is our policy and is also a regulatory requirement evaluated by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and The Joint Commission during routine inspections. For more information, including which roles are required to have certifications in place, please reference the Emergency Response Training Medical Center Policy. Certification renewal can be arranged through UVA Health’s Life Support Learning Center. If you have questions about ACLS, BLS, or PALS certifications, please contact your HR Business Partner.

Operations

Survey: Earn While You Learn

UVA Health is working actively on programs to help support team members become nurses and to assist current nurses who wish to advance their careers. The Earn While You Learn program is seeking information for those interested in future programs. Please complete this survey to provide information and help guide planning efforts. 

NVERS Medical Response and Surge Exercise

Tuesday, April 16 | 9 a.m.-4 p.m. | Emergency Department, University Hospital | UVA Health is participating in the Northern Virginia Emergency Response System (NVERS) Medical Response and Surge Exercise (MRSE), an operations-based exercise which evaluates our capacity to manage a large-scale, community-wide patient surge. MRSE will help us evaluate our ability to provide patients the care they need at the right place and time, with the right resources during medical surge to decrease deaths, injuries, and illnesses resulting from medical surge. This exercise will include multiple departments throughout University Hospital. To prepare, please review Red Book procedures with your staff prior to April 16. Questions? Contact Carlee Porch, Emergency Management Coordinator.

Leadership

Top Nanotechnology Expert to Lead UVA’s NanoSTAR Institute

Evan A. Scott, PhD — a preeminent expert in the use of nanotechnology to understand and fight disease — will head up the UVA’s Institute for Nanoscale Scientific and Technological Advanced Research, or nanoSTAR, as UVA enters a bold new era in nanotechnology research with the launch of the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology. Read more on Connect.

Save the Date: UVA Health Town Hall

Tuesday, May 7 | noon-1 p.m. | Sandridge Auditorium and Livestream (link to come) | Join K. Craig Kent, MD, CEO of UVA Health, and other UVA Health leaders to learn more about the top priorities and latest developments for our organization as we continue our momentum as One Future Together | Health and Hope for All. There will be a special segment dedicated to celebrating nurses in honor of National Nurses Week. 

Happenings

Earth Month: A Celebration of Our Shared Planet

Through April 31 | Each year, UVA Sustainability partners with organizations across UVA and the Charlottesville-area community to host more than 40 celebrations like cleanups, clothing swaps, book talks, workshops, e-bike demos, garden days, and more. See the full schedule and mark your calendars.

Recording Available: Healing Healthcare 

In case you missed it: Check out this conversation with U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, and Compassionate Care Initiative Director Lili Powell. Dr. Murthy fields questions from UVA nursing and medical students, discusses "me" and "we" solutions for promoting clinician mental health and well-being, shares stories about his own experiences with burnout, and reminds us that every health worker is born with innate compassion. There is one week remaining to be able to claim credit for the extent of your participation in the session. Complementary resources, including a discussion guide and annotated transcript, can be found here.

Sale | Collective Goods

Link outside of Primary Care Center | A sale by Collective Goods brings a variety of gifts, linens, electronics, and quality books for every age. Shop for Mother's Day, graduations, and more. Sponsored by, and proceeds benefit, the UVA Hospital Auxiliary.

• Wednesday, April 10 | 7 a.m.-4 p.m.
• Thursday, April 11 | 7 a.m.-2 p.m.

Honoring Julieanna L. Richardson

Friday, April 12 | 3:30-4:30 p.m., conversation with Dean John Unsworth, University Librarian and Dean of Libraries at UVA; 4:30-6 PM, reception | Colonnade Club | Please join the Batten School in celebrating Julieanna L. Richardson, the 2024 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medalist in Citizen Leadership. Richardson is the founder and president of The HistoryMakers, a national nonprofit, educational institution that has curated, presented, and preserved on video the histories of thousands of African Americans. Through collecting and preserving these stories of Black leaders in arts, medicine, media, sports, religion, music, politics, and other disciplines, The HistoryMakers is creating a more inclusive record of American history. Details.

Run With Jim for UVA Health Children’s

Monday, April 15 | UVA President James Ryan will run his 13th Boston Marathon in support of UVA Health Children’s. You can honor a patient, physician, nurse, or other healthcare provider by adding their name to his race singlet with a minimum gift of $260, then you’ll also qualify to receive a special “Run With Jim” T-shirt to wear in solidarity. Contributions to UVA Health Children’s will not only help our youngest patients and their families, but also help provide the resources our team members need to deliver world-class care right here in Virginia. Your philanthropic support will help us continue to serve the patients who need us the most. Interested? Contact Malan Jackson or visit the Run With Jim campaign page.

Unearthing Black Midwifery Stories in Virginia

Tuesday, April 16 | noon-1 p.m. | McLeod Hall, room 5060 and Zoom | Join Randolph Awardee and scholar Linda Janet Holmes for a Bjoring Center history forum on findings from her interviews with midwife descendants, mothers, doulas, and contemporary healthcare providers who recognize the contributions of historic Black midwifery care and traditions in Charlottesville and surrounding communities. Learn more.

UVA Pipelines and Pathways: Grow Your Career With Public Speaking 

Tuesday, April 16 | noon-1:30 p.m. | Learn the basics for building your career and get the tools you need to obtain your dream job at UVA or UVA Health. Presented by Kristine Vey, LEED AP ID+C, UVA Construction Project Manager and Professional Development Coordinator. Questions? Contact Hollie Lee at 434.962.3996. Learn more and register.

ECHO: The Management of Chronic Infections

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of collaboration among clinicians to address specific needs and challenges associated with providing care for people living in congregate communities. Free CME to registered attendees. Register. 

• Wednesday, April 17: Primary Care Perspective, Hep C and HIV
• Wednesday, May 15: Focus on Hepatitis C 
• Wednesday, June 12: Focus on HIV

Nominate: Hoos Building Bridges Award 

Deadline: Friday, April 19 | This award acknowledges the cross-disciplinary partnerships and projects of staff and team members. Recipients demonstrate leadership and build thoughtful collaborations and relationships across schools, units, and/or departments. Learn more and nominate. Questions? Please email AskHR@virginia.edu.

World Voice Day Concert

Saturday, April 20 | 5-8 p.m. | Eastwood Farm and Winery | The UVA Voice Center is excited to welcome singers returning to the stage following vocal rehabilitation, followed by featured performers Robin and Linda Williams. This event is free to attend but will raise funds for the Music Health Alliance, a nonprofit providing healthcare resources for folks in the music industry. Contact Joanna Lott with questions.

Team Member Art Day — Back by Popular Demand!

Friday, May 3 | 1-3 p.m. | Dining Conference Rooms 1, 2, and 3 | Drop in for a creative break in your day. All art supplies will be provided. Hosted by The Fralin Museum of Art at UVA. Free for all UVA Health team members.

Introduction to Mindfulness for Healthcare Employees

Wednesdays, May 8- June 12 | 6-7:30 p.m. | Zoom | Register | In today’s fast-paced world, stress affects us in many ways. How we respond to stress, directly affects our health and well-being. 

Appreciation

W. Jeffrey Elias, MD, Named to Modern Healthcare’s 2024 Innovators List

UVA Health neurosurgeon W. Jeffrey Elias, MD, has been recognized by Modern Healthcare, a leading healthcare publication, as one of its Innovators for 2024 for his pioneering work in the field of focused ultrasound. 

Dr. Elias is being honored for his groundbreaking work with focused ultrasound technology that can replace a surgeon’s scalpels with focused sound waves. Instead of requiring a neurosurgeon to cut into a patient’s skull, the technology can focus sound waves deep inside a patient’s brain to disrupt faulty brain circuits. Elias’ pioneering research helped pave the way for the federal Food and Drug Administration to approve the minimally invasive technology as a new treatment option both for essential tremor, a common movement disorder, and for Parkinson’s disease symptoms. 

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Elias on this outstanding recognition. Read more on Connect.

Monday, April 8

NVERS Medical Response and Surge Exercise

Tuesday, April 16 | 9 a.m.-4 p.m. | Emergency Department, University Hospital | UVA Health is participating in the Northern Virginia Emergency Response System (NVERS) Medical Response and Surge Exercise (MRSE), an operations-based exercise which evaluates our capacity to manage a large-scale, community-wide patient surge. 

MRSE will help us evaluate our ability to provide patients the care they need at the right place and time, with the right resources during medical surge to decrease deaths, injuries, and illnesses resulting from medical surge. This exercise will include multiple departments throughout University Hospital. 

To prepare, please review Red Book procedures with your staff prior to April 16. Questions? Contact Carlee Porch, Emergency Management Coordinator.

Operations

Survey: Earn While You Learn

UVA Health is working actively on programs to help support team members become nurses and to assist current nurses who wish to advance their careers. The Earn While You Learn program is seeking information for those interested in future programs. Please complete this survey to provide information and help guide planning efforts. 

Two-Step Verification for MyChart Users

Monday, April 8 | In keeping with our steadfast commitment to protect patient data, and at the recommendation of the MyChart Steering Committee, we will turn on two-step verification for all UVA Health MyChart accounts across all entities.  

Robin Parkin, CPHIMS, CHCIO, Chief Information and Technology Office, said, “Two-step verification (also called two-factor authentication) is a security protocol that uses a secondary means (email or text) to verify a patient’s identity when logging in to MyChart. When this feature is turned on, it adds a quick step to the login process to help make sure the user is who they say they are.  

“Using two-step verification to protect online accounts is a common practice among healthcare and other organizations that deal with secure information and is likely something that most patients have encountered previously. Currently, it is an optional security feature for UVA Health MyChart accounts. Starting April 8, users will need to opt-out if they do not wish to use two-step verification. 

“Patients will see an announcement message about the change when they log in to their MyChart account. The MyChart Help Desk number (which is staffed 24/7) will be featured on the login page to support patients who have trouble accessing their account. Frequently asked questions will also be available on uvahealth.com.”  

Thank you for your support of our ongoing work to strengthen our Health Information Technology foundation in service of patients and team members. If you have questions about this change, please contact Robin Parkin or Mike Navetta, Administrator, HIT Applications. 

Monthly Epic Update

Changes go live Tuesday, April 9 | This month’s Epic updates will impact ambulatory and inpatient licensed independent practitioners, nurses, and therapy services. Details about the latest changes can be found in the Epic Update Bundle. Questions? Contact the Help Desk at 434.924.5334.

Happenings

April Is National Donate Life Month

According to Donate Life Virginia, two people in the Commonwealth of Virginia die weekly waiting for the “gift of an organ that does not come.” Living donation reduces wait times for patients, greatly improving their chance of survival. During Donate Life Month, learn more about how you can become a living kidney or liver donor and access other organ donation resources. 

Sale | Collective Goods

Link outside of Primary Care Center | A sale by Collective Goods brings a variety of gifts, linens, electronics, and quality books for every age. Shop for Mother's Day, graduations, and more. Sponsored by, and proceeds benefit, the UVA Hospital Auxiliary.

• Tuesday, April 9 | 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 10 | 7 a.m.-4 p.m.
• Thursday, April 11 | 7 a.m.-2 p.m.

2024 Parker Research Symposium

Wednesday, April 10 | noon-4 p.m. | Claude Moore Nursing Education Building, Room G01 and Zoom | The Barbara Parker Research Symposium showcases the peer-reviewed research of current UVA School of Nursing PhD students. This symposium includes podium and poster presentations that address a range of topics on research by nurses who seek to discover new knowledge that will ultimately benefit the health of individuals, families, and communities. Learn more.

Physicians and APPs: Get a New Provider Directory Headshot

McKim Hall | Ground Floor, Room G045 | Physicians and advanced practice providers: get a new or updated headshot taken in 10 minutes or less on dates listed below. No appointment needed. Bring a white coat if you have one; if not, one will be provided.

• Thursday, April 11 | 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 17 | 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Friday, April 26 | noon-3 p.m.
• Monday, April 29 | 9 a.m.-noon

Honoring Julieanna L. Richardson

Friday, April 12 | 3:30-4:30 p.m., conversation with Dean John Unsworth, University Librarian and Dean of Libraries at UVA; 4:30-6 PM, reception | Colonnade Club | Please join the Batten School in celebrating Julieanna L. Richardson, the 2024 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medalist in Citizen Leadership. Richardson is the founder and president of The HistoryMakers, a national nonprofit, educational institution that has curated, presented, and preserved on video the histories of thousands of African Americans. Through collecting and preserving these stories of Black leaders in arts, medicine, media, sports, religion, music, politics, and other disciplines, The HistoryMakers is creating a more inclusive record of American history. Details.

Protecting Health in a Changing Climate: Rising Heat and Health in Virginia

Saturday, April 13 | 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. | Claude Moore Nursing Education Building and Zoom | This conference will help you protect health, particularly for vulnerable communities and populations, through knowledge of evaluation and management of heat-related illness. It also will help you advocate for policies that protect individuals, families, and communities from rising temperatures. Registration deadline is April 8. Learn more and register. Questions? Contact Linda Hanson.

​​ROSE Program: Drop Off or Pick Up Reusable Office Supplies

Tuesday, April 16 | 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. | Medical Center Dining Conference Rooms 1 and 2 | Reusable Office Supply Exchange (ROSE) Program is a free service that collects new or gently used office supplies. Drop off office supplies or take what you need monthly. 

Second Annual Nursing and Medicine Community Festival

Thursday, April 18 | 5-7 p.m. | Courtyard between MR5 and MR6 | Nursing and medical students and their clinician colleagues can enjoy music, games, trivia, and food at this event sponsored by UVA School of Nursing; Inclusion, Diversity, and Excellence Achievement (IDEA) team; and UVA Health Cancer Center.

Call for Abstracts: 2nd Annual UVA Health Interdisciplinary Quality Improvement/Patient Safety Showcase

Due Monday, April 22 | 11:59 p.m. | Showcase Tuesday, June 4 | This UVA Health patient safety event recognizes local improvements in quality improvement and patient safety from all disciplines. Participants will be selected to present a poster or give an oral presentation of their work. Learn more and submit. Questions? Contact Co-Chairs Amber Inofuentes, MD, Department of Medicine, or Elisa Hampton, MD, Department of Pediatrics.

Appreciation

National Donate Life Month: Pinwheel Garden

If you have time during National Donate Life Month, stop by the front of the West Complex to visit the Pinwheel Garden. Each blue-and-silver pinwheel, characterized by its single stem and eight spokes, represents the extraordinary capacity of an individual to save up to eight lives through organ donation. The vibrant array of multi-colored pinwheels also signifies the diverse stories and experiences associated with organ donation and transplantation. 

Crafted by a collaborative effort involving team members, patients, families, and elementary school students, these pinwheels vividly illustrate the broad impact and community spirit embodied by Donate Life Month. Thank you to all who helped make it possible. The Pinwheel Garden is open through April 27.

Friday, April 5

Two-Step Verification for MyChart Users

Monday, April 8 | In keeping with our steadfast commitment to protect patient data, and at the recommendation of the MyChart Steering Committee, we will turn on two-step verification for all UVA Health MyChart accounts across all entities.  

Robin Parkin, CPHIMS, CHCIO, Chief Information and Technology Office, said, “Two-step verification (also called two-factor authentication) is a security protocol that uses a secondary means (email or text) to verify a patient’s identity when logging in to MyChart. When this feature is turned on, it adds a quick step to the login process to help make sure the user is who they say they are.  

“Using two-step verification to protect online accounts is a common practice among healthcare and other organizations that deal with secure information and is likely something that most patients have encountered previously. Currently, it is an optional security feature for UVA Health MyChart accounts. Starting April 8, users will need to opt-out if they do not wish to use two-step verification. 

“Patients will see an announcement message about the change when they log in to their MyChart account. The MyChart Help Desk number (which is staffed 24/7) will be featured on the login page to support patients who have trouble accessing their account. Frequently asked questions will also be available on uvahealth.com.”  

Thank you for your support of our ongoing work to strengthen our Health Information Technology foundation in service of patients and team members. If you have questions about this change, please contact Robin Parkin or Mike Navetta, Administrator, HIT Applications. 

Operations

Sidewalk and Road Closure: Lane Road

Saturday, April 6 | 7 a.m.-noon | Due to South Tower roof repairs, Lane Road will have a one-lane traffic pattern near the Crispell Drive intersection. The southbound lane will be closed. Additionally, three parking spaces (for M11 permits) on Lane Road in front of MR4 will be blocked. Flaggers and signage will be on-site to help with traffic. Questions? Contact Scott Guynes, Project Manager, at 434.982.3787.

Monthly Epic Update

Changes go live Tuesday, April 9 | This month’s Epic updates will impact ambulatory and inpatient licensed independent practitioners, nurses, and therapy services. Details about the latest changes can be found in the Epic Update Bundle. Questions? Contact the Help Desk at 434.924.5334.

NVERS Medical Response and Surge Exercise

Tuesday, April 16 | 9 a.m.-4 p.m. | Emergency Department, University Hospital | UVA Health is participating in the Northern Virginia Emergency Response System (NVERS) Medical Response and Surge Exercise (MRSE), an operations-based exercise which evaluates our capacity to manage a large-scale, community-wide patient surge. The MRSE will help us evaluate our ability to provide patients the care they need at the right place, at the right time, and with the right resources during medical surge to decrease deaths, injuries, and illnesses resulting from medical surge. This exercise will include multiple departments throughout the University Hospital. To prepare, please review Red Book procedures with your staff prior to April 16. Questions? Contact Carlee Porch, Emergency Management Coordinator.

Leadership

Special MCMG Leadership Meeting

Thursday, April 18 | noon-4:30 p.m. | John Paul Jones Arena | This month, University Medical Center leaders are invited to an extended, in-person Medical Center Management Group (MCMG) meeting to allow for more time to connect with colleagues. All University Medical Center (including ambulatory) managers and above are strongly encouraged to attend. The theme is “Inform. Inspire. Empower.” Parking is available. Boxed lunches will be provided. The agenda will be shared closer to the meeting date.

UVA Health In the News

Top Story

• CEO Wendy Horton talks about embracing innovative leadership and designing new care models for Healthcare Executive.

Patient Care

• Dr. Nicolas Goldaracena discusses living organ donation during this week’s NBC29 segment.
• Dr. Taison Bell talks with USA Today to debunk a myth about safety concerns from DNA fragments in COVID vaccines.
• Dr. Binit Shah is featured locally, in Roanoke and TV stations from Atlanta to Louisiana, discussing UVA Health’s new comprehensive Parkinson’s clinic.
• Registered Dietitian Katherine Basbaum talks with Everyday Health about the merits of a weight-loss drink dubbed “Oatzempic.”

Research

• Dr. Fern Hauck’s safe-sleep research is featured in The Washington Post.
• Dr. Anelyssa D’Abreu’s research about a sleep disorder linked to dementia is highlighted in newspapers across the country, including the Houston Chronicle and Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
• Dr. Linda Duska talks with WTOP in Washington, D.C., and NBC29 about her and Dr. Kari Ring’s plan to improve cancer prevention in rural areas and increase clinical trial enrollment.

Community

• Plans for the Ronald McDonald House to expand in Charlottesville are featured on NBC29 and TV stations nationally.

Education

• UVA student Morgan Greig is featured locally and on TV stations nationally discussing a student-led kidney disease screening and awareness program. 

Happenings

Rotating Art Exhibit 

Through Wednesday, May 22 | University Medical Center lobby | UVA Health Arts Program presents “Virginia Hues 2024: The Art of Lea Boise.” (Pictured: “A Rosy Outlook,” oil paint on linen canvas.) Stop by and check it out!

Solar Eclipse Watch Party With President Ryan

Monday, April 8 | The Lawn, Upper Tier | 1:30-4:30 p.m. | Join UVA President Jim Ryan, the Astronomy Club, and UVA Student Council on The Lawn to witness the solar eclipse. Treats provided to all; eclipse glasses provided to the first 1,500 attendees.

Sale | Collective Goods

Link outside of Primary Care Center | A sale by Collective Goods brings a variety of gifts, linens, electronics, and quality books for every age. Shop for Mother's Day, graduations, and more. Sponsored by, and proceeds benefit, the UVA Hospital Auxiliary.

• Tuesday, April 9 | 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 10 | 7 a.m.-4 p.m.
• Thursday, April 11 | 7 a.m.-2 p.m.

Active Attacker Prevention Training 

Tuesday, April 9 | noon to 1 p.m. | Newcomb Hall, South Meeting Room | Register | Although active attacker incidents at universities and medical centers are rare, the impact on the individuals and communities affected cannot be overstated. In this 60-minute training, the Department of Safety and Security will discuss what University Threat Assessment, Emergency Management, and Police Department are doing to prevent, prepare for, and, if needed, respond to an active attacker event. Participants will learn about emergency notifications, how to report concerning behavior, and easy-to-remember options for people who are faced with a violent situation. Free and open to all UVA Health students and employees. For more information, contact Rachel Slotter, Office of Emergency Management.

Honoring Julieanna L. Richardson

Friday, April 12 | 3:30-4:30 p.m., conversation with Dean John Unsworth, University Librarian and Dean of Libraries at UVA; 4:30-6 PM, reception | Colonnade Club | Please join the Batten School in celebrating Julieanna L. Richardson, the 2024 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medalist in Citizen Leadership. Richardson is the founder and president of The HistoryMakers, a national nonprofit, educational institution that has curated, presented, and preserved on video the histories of thousands of African Americans. Through collecting and preserving these stories of Black leaders in arts, medicine, media, sports, religion, music, politics, and other disciplines, The HistoryMakers is creating a more inclusive record of American history. Details.

Protecting Health in a Changing Climate: Rising Heat and Health in Virginia

Saturday, April 13 | 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. | Claude Moore Nursing Education Building and Zoom | This conference will help you protect health, particularly for vulnerable communities and populations, through knowledge of evaluation and management of heat-related illness. It also will help you advocate for policies that protect individuals, families, and communities from rising temperatures. Registration deadline is April 8. Learn more and register. Questions? Contact Linda Hanson.

Call for Nominations: 2024 Thomas Jefferson Awards

Deadline: Monday, April 15 | noon | The Thomas Jefferson Awards are the highest honors given to members of the University community. Award recipients exemplify the principles, ideals, and mission of the University in their character, work, and influence. The committee is now soliciting nominations for two Jefferson Awards — one for service and one for scholarship. Learn more. Questions? Contact the Thomas Jefferson Awards Committee or Cecil Banks, Executive Director for Major Events and External Relations. 

BFS-ERG Awards Luncheon

Thursday, April 25 | noon-2 p.m. | Newcomb Hall, Commonwealth Room | RSVP by April 19 | The Black Faculty and Staff Employee Resource Group (BFS-ERG) serves as a voice for Black faculty and staff at UVA in matters relative to the intellectual, professional, and emotional betterment within the UVA community and beyond. Join this luncheon in recognizing the outstanding work of our colleagues at the University, specifically related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Deadline Extended: ​​Charles L. Brown Award

New deadline: Friday, May 17 | 5 p.m. | The Charles L. Brown Award for Patient Care Quality is UVA Health’s annual award for a care team who has worked to move our quality and patient safety efforts forward. Sponsored by the Department of Quality and Performance Improvement, this award offers a $10,000 prize to a team or teams to recognize excellence in patient care. Submit an application. Questions? Contact Jeff Lucas, Director, Performance Improvement, at 434.243.1755.

Appreciation

'I Don't Ever Complete These Surveys, But …' | Kudos for Our UVA Health Colleagues

To provide the best possible service and care for our community, UVA Health regularly surveys our patients on their recent healthcare experience. Below is a small selection of recent feedback praising our outstanding team members:

• “One particular nurse that tended to me was absolutely incredible. His name was Jakob Minter. He drew my blood for all the tests. It was the best experience I have ever had drawing blood. He took his time to check both arms to see which one was better. Typically when I have blood drawn, it is very painful because the tech needs to get the test done quickly. Jacob took his time, found the vein he was looking for, and honestly, I felt nothing. Not even a pinch! All I can say is wow! He is truly someone special.”
• “A huge thanks to Tyler at the check-in desk; Cia, who prepped me and let me ask a million questions about being nervous and put me at ease; and especially Mary, my PACU nurse, who advocated for me to make sure the doctor saw me before I left, helped me cope with my pain, nausea, and general coming-out-of-anesthesia fog. Truly, Mary made the experience as comfortable as possible.”
• “I don't ever complete these surveys, but I felt compelled to do this one because of the good experience I got. Having to go to the hospital for anything can be very stressful — nervous, not knowing a lot of the unknowns. But I wanted to give a full shoutout to Chelsea Cooper, who was one of my RNs, and Caroline Mastrangelo. They were nothing but sweet, and had the biggest smile on their faces. You could tell they were passionate about their jobs. They went above and beyond to make sure I felt comfortable by making sure I had a warm blanket, tissues, water — and they also just listened to my concerns. Lastly, they made sure I had snacks for after my tilt-table test. They both had a calm tone and explained everything perfectly to me.”
• “Anne was my nurse on 5 South. I have spent a good time of my life in the hospital and have always been under the care of medical professionals, since I have a lifelong condition. The level of care I received from her will always stand out to me as being top-notch. She was an incredible nurse and I think she deserves recognition for her skills. I was not expecting the level of care I received from your hospital and staff, and I am truly thankful and feel blessed that I received the transplant from y'all. You are an amazing hospital and have top-notch care.”

Thanks to all our team members for providing outstanding, compassionate, and safe care.

Wednesday, April 3

BIMS Students Receive Their First Lab Coats

The School of Medicine celebrated its first-year BIMS students at the UVA Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program (BIMS) Lab Coat Ceremony on March 29. This event marks the transition to the next phase of their graduate careers when students embark upon their mentored research projects.

Family, friends, faculty, and staff gathered in McLeod Auditorium — and also remotely — to celebrate the 57 students who were recognized in the following disciplines: Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics (4), Biophysics and Physiology (9), Cell Biology (6), Experimental Pathology (5), Microbiology (16), Neuroscience (10), and Pharmacology (7). The class is 63% female and 26% of the total students are from underrepresented minorities.

The SOM also recognized five Medical Scientist Training Program students who completed their pre-clinical medical school classes and their Step 1 exams and transitioned to their research labs to begin the PhD portion of their studies. Visit Connect to read more and see photos.

Patient Care

Reminder: Renew Your BLS, ACLS, and PALS Certifications

Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) certifications are crucial requirements for many of our medical providers and frontline team members. It is our policy and is also a regulatory requirement evaluated by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and The Joint Commission during routine inspections. For more information, including which roles are required to have certifications in place, please reference the Emergency Response Training Medical Center Policy. Certification renewal can be arranged through UVA Health’s Life Support Learning Center. If you have questions about ACLS, BLS, or PALS certifications, please contact your HR Business Partner.

Leadership

Be Heard Breakfast

Thursday, April 4 | 9:30 a.m. | Health System Executive Board Room | There are still spots open for Wendy Horton’s Be Heard Breakfast. Come together and chat with colleagues from across UVA Health University Medical Center. Team members can clock in for their time spent contributing to these valuable conversations. Sign up.

University Medical Center CEO Blog | Get to Know the Higher Grounds Team

In her new Vision and Voice post, Wendy Horton gets to know the team that serves far more than just coffee. Read more. 

Happenings

Earth Month: A Celebration of Our Shared Planet

Through April 31 | Each year, UVA Sustainability partners with organizations across UVA and the Charlottesville-area community to host more than 40 celebrations like cleanups, clothing swaps, book talks, workshops, e-bike demos, garden days, and more. See the full schedule and mark your calendars.

Solar Eclipse Watch Party With President Ryan

Monday, April 8 | The Lawn, Upper Tier | 1:30-4:30 p.m. | Join UVA President Jim Ryan, the Astronomy Club, and UVA Student Council on The Lawn to witness the solar eclipse. Treats provided to all; eclipse glasses provided to the first 1,500 attendees.

Sale | Collective Goods

Link outside of Primary Care Center | A sale by Collective Goods brings a variety of gifts, linens, electronics, and quality books for every age. Shop for Mother's Day, graduations, and more. Sponsored by, and proceeds benefit, the UVA Hospital Auxiliary.

• Tuesday, April 9 | 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 10 | 7 a.m.-4 p.m.
• Thursday, April 11 | 7 a.m.-2 p.m.

Active Attacker Prevention Training 

Tuesday, April 9 | noon to 1 p.m. | Newcomb Hall, South Meeting Room | Register | Although active attacker incidents at universities and medical centers are rare, the impact on the individuals and communities affected cannot be overstated. In this 60-minute training, the Department of Safety and Security will discuss what University Threat Assessment, Emergency Management, and Police Department are doing to prevent, prepare for, and, if needed, respond to an active attacker event. Participants will learn about emergency notifications, how to report concerning behavior, and easy-to-remember options for people who are faced with a violent situation. Free and open to all UVA Health students and employees. For more information, contact Rachel Slotter, Office of Emergency Management.

Run With Jim for UVA Health Children’s

Monday, April 15 | UVA President James Ryan will run his 13th Boston Marathon in support of UVA Health Children’s. You can honor a patient, physician, nurse, or other healthcare provider by adding their name to his race singlet with a minimum gift of $260, then you’ll also qualify to receive a special “Run With Jim” T-shirt to wear in solidarity. Contributions to UVA Health Children’s will not only help our youngest patients and their families, but also help provide the resources our team members need to deliver world-class care right here in Virginia. Your philanthropic support will help us continue to serve the patients who need us the most. Interested? Contact Malan Jackson or visit the Run With Jim campaign page.

ECHO: The Management of Chronic Infections

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of collaboration among clinicians to address specific needs and challenges associated with providing care for people living in congregate communities. Free CME to registered attendees. Register. 

• Wednesday, April 17: Primary Care Perspective, Hep C and HIV
• Wednesday, May 15: Focus on Hepatitis C 
• Wednesday, June 12: Focus on HIV

Nominate: Hoos Building Bridges Award 

Deadline: Friday, April 19 | This award acknowledges the cross-disciplinary partnerships and projects of staff and team members. Recipients demonstrate leadership and build thoughtful collaborations and relationships across schools, units, and/or departments. Learn more and nominate. Questions? Please email AskHR@virginia.edu.

World Voice Day Concert

Saturday, April 20 | 5-8 p.m. | Eastwood Farm and Winery | The UVA Voice Center is excited to welcome singers returning to the stage following vocal rehabilitation, followed by featured performers Robin and Linda Williams. This event is free to attend but will raise funds for the Music Health Alliance, a nonprofit providing healthcare resources for folks in the music industry. Contact Joanna Lott with questions.

Call for Abstracts: 2nd Annual UVA Health Interdisciplinary Quality Improvement/Patient Safety Showcase

Due Monday, April 22 | 11:59 p.m. | Showcase Tuesday, June 4 | This UVA Health patient safety event recognizes local improvements in quality improvement and patient safety from all disciplines. Participants will be selected to present a poster or give an oral presentation of their work. Learn more and submit. Questions? Contact Co-Chairs Amber Inofuentes, MD, Department of Medicine, or Elisa Hampton, MD, Department of Pediatrics.

Team Member Art Day — Back by Popular Demand!

Friday, May 3 | 1-3 p.m. | Dining Conference Rooms 1, 2, and 3 | Drop in for a creative break in your day. All art supplies will be provided. Hosted by The Fralin Museum of Art at UVA. Free for all UVA Health team members.

Introduction to Mindfulness for Healthcare Employees

Wednesdays, May 8- June 12 | 6-7:30 p.m. | Zoom | Register | In today’s fast-paced world, stress affects us in many ways. How we respond to stress, directly affects our health and well-being. 

Appreciation

Occupational Therapy: Living Life to the Fullest

April is National Occupation Therapy (OT) Month — and we’re applauding our OT Department as an integral part of our patients’ recovery throughout UVA Health. The department’s role involves:

• Starting the rehabilitation process.
• Facilitating early and safe functional mobilization.
• Optimizing independence with self-care.
• Thermoplastic splinting for protection and positioning.
• Instructing patients in orthotics and brace management.
• Helping to facilitate safe/successful discharge planning.

“One of the primary goals of the OT Department here at UVA Health is to help to ensure our patients have a successful recovery from surgery/illness and to assist with a safe and timely discharge from the hospital,” says Dwayne Pitre, OTR/L, Manager, Adult Occupational Therapy.



The OT Department provides services across the spectrum of care for all patient care units, including acute care and ICUs; PACU/Extended Stay and Emergency Department; and 5 East Psychiatric Unit. There are also OT team members providing therapy to patients on the 7th floor pediatric units, as well as at the outpatient pediatric clinics in the Battle Building. Please join us in thanking our occupational therapists for all they do!

Monday, April 1

April Is National Donate Life Month 

According to Donate Life Virginia, two people in the Commonwealth of Virginia die weekly waiting for the “gift of an organ that does not come.” Living donation reduces wait times for patients, greatly improving their chance of survival. 

During Donate Life Month, learn more about how you can become a living kidney or liver donor and access other organ donation resources. 

Patient Care

Medical Care During Ramadan

Ramadan began on the evening of Sunday, March 10, and ends at sundown on Tuesday, April 9. One of the fundamental principles in observing this holy month for followers of Islam is fasting during daylight, which includes not taking oral medications. Please be aware of this custom and ask patients if they will be observing Ramadan. If so, it would be prudent to discuss a medication plan with them to ensure optimal medical care while they observe this holy month. Read more on Connect.

Operations

Cath Lab Response Team

Begins Monday, April 1 | A new Cath Lab Response team has been created to assist with medical emergencies occurring in the Cardiac Cath Lab and will only be activated by Cath Lab staff. This response team was developed to provide quick, safe, and efficient care to patients in the Cath Lab while also ensuring the safety of all team members. If you have questions or concerns, contact Rebekah Billings or Jennifer Killmer.

Traffic Enforcement 

Begins Monday, April 1 | UVA Police will monitor the 11th Street and Emmet/Ivy Garages on an ongoing basis and will conduct traffic enforcement as needed. Monitoring and enforcement is a result of numerous complaints concerning vehicles driving at excessive speeds as they exit these garages. Police officers will issue warnings and uniform summons to violators.

Leadership

Be Heard Breakfast

Wednesday, April 3, 5:45 p.m., and Thursday, April 4, 9:30 a.m. | Health System Executive Board Room | There are still spots open for CEO Wendy Horton’s Be Heard Breakfast. Come together and chat with colleagues from across UVA Health University Medical Center. Team members can clock in for their time spent contributing to these valuable conversations. Sign up.

Human Resources

Benefits Wednesday: Meet a Counselor

Wednesday, April 3 | 7 a.m.-3 p.m. | Medical Center Dining Conference Room 3 | Ask questions and discuss your benefits with a Human Resources counselor. Walk-ins welcome. See monthly dates.

Happenings

Celebrating National Patient Access Appreciation Week 

Through April 6 | National Patient Access Week has arrived and we would like to recognize and thank our access team members who are often the first interaction our patients have with UVA Health. The theme for this year is: “Shining Bright — 50 Years and Counting.” Check with your manager to find out what activities are planned for your area. For more information on Patient Access Week, visit the National Association of Healthcare Access Management website. Thank you to all UVA Health access professionals for their dedication throughout the National Patient Access Week and the rest of the year! 

Physicians and APPs: Get a New Provider Directory Headshot

McKim Hall | Ground Floor, Room G045 | Physicians and advanced practice providers: get a new or updated headshot taken in 10 minutes or less on dates listed below. No appointment needed. Bring a white coat if you have one; if not, one will be provided.

• Tuesday, April 2 | 9 a.m.-noon
• Thursday, April 11 | 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 17 | 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Friday, April 26 | noon-3 p.m.
• Monday, April 29 | 9 a.m.-noon

Solar Eclipse Watch Party With President Ryan

Monday, April 8 | The Lawn, Upper Tier | 1:30-4:30 p.m. | Join UVA President Jim Ryan, the Astronomy Club, and UVA Student Council on The Lawn to witness the solar eclipse. Treats provided to all; eclipse glasses provided to the first 1,500 attendees.

Sale | Collective Goods

Link outside of Primary Care Center | A sale by Collective Goods brings a variety of gifts, linens, electronics, and quality books for every age. Shop for Mother's Day, graduations, and more. Sponsored by, and proceeds benefit, the UVA Hospital Auxiliary.

• Tuesday, April 9 | 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 10 | 7 a.m.-4 p.m.
• Thursday, April 11 | 7 a.m.-2 p.m.

Active Attacker Prevention Training 

Tuesday, April 9 | noon to 1 p.m. | Newcomb Hall, South Meeting Room | Register | Although active attacker incidents at universities and medical centers are rare, the impact on the individuals and communities affected cannot be overstated. In this 60-minute training, the Department of Safety and Security will discuss what University Threat Assessment, Emergency Management, and Police Department are doing to prevent, prepare for, and, if needed, respond to an active attacker event. Participants will learn about emergency notifications, how to report concerning behavior, and easy-to-remember options for people who are faced with a violent situation. Free and open to all UVA students and employees. For more information, contact Rachel Slotter, Office of Emergency Management.

Protecting Health in a Changing Climate: Rising Heat and Health in Virginia

Saturday, April 13 | 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. | Claude Moore Nursing Education Building and Zoom | This conference will help you protect health, particularly for vulnerable communities and populations, through knowledge of evaluation and management of heat-related illness. It also will help you advocate for policies that protect individuals, families, and communities from rising temperatures. Registration deadline is April 8. Learn more and register. Questions? Contact Linda Hanson.

Second Annual Nursing and Medicine Community Festival

Thursday, April 18 | 5-7 p.m. | Courtyard between MR5 and MR6 | Music, games, trivia, and food will be in abundance at this event for nursing and medical students and their clinician colleagues. Sponsored by UVA School of Nursing; Inclusion, Diversity, and Excellence Achievement (IDEA) team; and UVA Health Cancer Center. 

Deadline Extended: ​​Charles L. Brown Award

New deadline: Friday, May 17 | 5 p.m. | The Charles L. Brown Award for Patient Care Quality is UVA Health’s annual award for a care team who has worked to move our quality and patient safety efforts forward. Sponsored by the Department of Quality and Performance Improvement, this award offers a $10,000 prize to a team or teams to recognize excellence in patient care. Submit an application. Questions? Contact Jeff Lucas, Director, Performance Improvement, at 434.243.1755.

Appreciation

Education Builds Hope

Did you know UVA Health is one of only three hospital systems in Virginia that offers a Hospital Education Program (HEP)? Since the late 1970s, the team — teachers, educational consultants, instructional assistants, media specialist/librarian, administrative technicians, and volunteers — has been providing educational services to our youngest patients, ages 2 to 22.

“We gain a lot of strength from our families,” says Principal Eric D. Johnson. “And the procedures some of the medical staff do these days to change or save young lives are amazing! We learn from the children themselves, too — with all of the obstacles they’re facing, their resiliency gives us hope. And in turn, we believe education builds their hope.”HEP collaborates with many UVA Health team members. “Our HEP teachers are the glue that keeps our kids connected to their schools while in the hospital or coming to the clinic frequently,” says William Petersen, MD, MBA, Associate Chief Medical Officer, UVA Health Children’s. “Many of our patients say our teachers are their favorite hospital staff members, and wish they could continue to be taught by them even after discharge from the hospital!” Read more in Connect’s Hope at Work series.

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