As staff and guests entered CRMH this morning, they were greeted by a beautiful sight: the Volunteer Services 2024 Plant Sale! 

Every year, Roanoke Volunteer Services partners with Walter's Greenhouse to bring beautiful Spring blooms to Carilion. Although this is a fun event that brings joy to our Roanoke campus, the impact goes much deeper. All proceeds from the Plant Sale benefit Volunteer Services programs that support our patients and their families.

Franklin the Frog made an appearance on Monday, May 6th to celebrate World Hand Hygiene Day with staff and visitors to share the importance of hand hygiene in creating the safest environment for our patients, staff, and visitors. Our CFMH leaders also shared their thoughts on how important Hand Hygiene is:

This week Carilion Clinic's Operations Center (CTAC) hosted a discussion and tour of VT students.  Dr. Nathan Lau, who CTAC has worked with since 2017, brought students from the ISE 6644 Cognitive Work and Task Analysis class to Parkview.  Touring CTAC and the Virtual Care Operations Center, the students had terrific insights and questions.  We are fortunate to have such a great partnership with VT and Dr. Lau's department.  

On Wednesday, April 24, the Presbyterian Community Center (PCC) in Southeast Roanoke broke ground on a new $6 million facility. This investment is set to transform the Belmont-Fallon neighborhood by expanding community services to those most in need. PCC has been a long-term partner of Carilion, helping us address needs identified in our Community Health Assessments. Molly Roberts, Community Benefit Manager, and Dr.

CFMH and Carilion Occupational Medicine have been working in collaboration with Cornerstone Plygem , a local manufacturing and largest company in Franklin County, to provide their employees with safety and Wellness programs. 
As a result of the wonderful collaboration, They awarded us The Hero of the Month Award. This was quite an honor. Thank you Nikki Hale, Dr. Potter and the Occ Med team for joining us at CFMH in helping keep our communities safe and well.  

As a part of Earth Week, five Carilion employees participated in a tree planting event at Piedmont Park yesterday evening. In partnership with the City of Roanoke’s Parks and Recreation department, we planted two cherry trees at the park and learned about the work that the City of Roanoke is doing to increase tree canopy coverage to combat urban heat island effect. This was a fun and educational event – a special thanks to Dan Cohen (Education and Organizational Development) for organizing it!  

Dr. David Sane, Chief Cardiology, led a successful EMS Field Heart Alert Conference on April 17. We had representation from Carilion Clinic Life-Guard, Roanoke County, Roanoke City, Botetourt, Franklin County and Western Virginia OEMS. Our mission is to foster excellent quality care and early recognition for our patients having Acute Coronary Syndrome. Thank you to our HeartNet team for facilitating such a great meeting. 

On March 27th the Easter Bunny rounded on the 4th floor. We had many smiles and laughs from staff and visitors while passing out treats. PreOp, PACU, OR, & ASU each had an easter egg hunt on their unit. It was a fun to watch everyone search for the easter eggs on the units! Proud to be a member of ORS! 

Shout out to Kathy Furr RN for the amazing images. :-) 

The DAISY award recognizes outstanding nurses that provide excellent care and compassion to patients and their families. Launched at the beginning of FY24, Carilion’s outpatient/ambulatory departments present the second quarter DAISY Award to Gayle Sellars, LPN, Plastic Surgery.

She was nominated by a Carilion colleague who shared that Gayle has gone above and beyond for each and every one of her patients during her over 40 years at Carilion, saying, “Gayle shows so much compassion for her patients and her job, not to mention all of her coworkers.”

Last month, Community Health Education Manager Rachel Burks joined other leading food access advocates, community organizations and public health professionals at the Virginia Food is Medicine Summit in Richmond. Rachel’s presentation focused on Carilion’s commitment to improving community health and future plans for a produce prescription program that joins health and community food systems together in Southwest Virginia.