Mission 

Network: December 2008

Optima Health Team Rallies to Race for Cure
A team of employees from Optima Health participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on October 18, 2008, at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. The group was inspired by co-worker Nurse Case Manager Paulette Carlson. In addition to rounding up her fellow employees, Carlson invited Russell Midgett and Richard Miller — two former police officers and Optima-insured members who met as kidney transplant recipients and supported each other through the ordeal — to join the team. Carlson, who has been instrumental in helping these two men and their families, donated out of her own pocket so that they and their wives could participate in the walk.

 Wellness Program at Union Mission
Sentara Health Foundation recently provided a grant to Union Mission Ministries in Norfolk to establish a “Wellness Program” to meet the health care needs of homeless clients. The program is designed to offer shelter and food to homeless men and women with chronic illnesses or recent hospitalizations. It also offers wellness support for physical and psychiatric illnesses and works with hospitals on supportive discharge plans. To date, the program has helped 123 men and women with clinic visits, prescriptions, dental care and transportation to appointments at the Veteran’s Administration in Hampton.

Sentara Health Foundation Collaborates to Establish Community Health Center
The Peninsula Institute for Community Health (PICH) has been awarded a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Grant to open a new Community Health Center in Virginia Beach. Sentara Health Foundation has pledged a $300,000 Community Recognition Grant to assist in the development of the new center. Planners anticipate the center, to be located at 940 General Booth Boulevard, will be open by January 2, 2009.

Geddy Outpatient Center

Senior Outpatient Behavioral Health Program opens in Williamsburg
Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center has opened a Senior Outpatient Behavioral Health Program to help seniors who battle psychiatric ailments such as depression, anxiety, isolation, agitation, confusion and low self esteem, among others. This multidisciplinary program, offered at the Geddy Outpatient Center, is designed to offer intensive, medically-supervised behavioral health support for seniors and to avert the need for inpatient hospitalization by enhancing seniors’ self-reliance and quality of life in their homes. The program, supported by the Williamsburg Health Foundation, offers transportation, snacks, group sessions and other services Monday through Friday. For more information on the program, call (757) 345-4670.

Sentara Patient Transfer Center Aids Hospitals
Since opening more than a year ago, the Sentara Patient Transfer Center has successfully handled numerous calls for service assistance from sister hospitals in outlying areas. Requests for assistance with complex patients came from the Outer Banks, Albemarle, Chowan, Shore Memorial and Southampton Memorial hospitals. As the region’s Level One Tertiary Care Center, Sentara Norfolk General Hospital accommodated the majority of the requests, however other Sentara hospitals also assisted.