Leadership doesn’t always happen in meetings — sometimes it happens in the parking garage. Huge shoutout to our Senior Retail Pharmacy Director for helping Candy change her tire and making sure she got to the mechanic safely. Moments like this remind us what real leadership looks like.

Thank you, Adrian! 

Congratulations to Rachel Kingery our October 2025 Inpatient Daisy Award Winner!

Rachel's patient commented on how committed and compassionate Rachel was. She had to come back after her first brief stay and prayed she would have Rachel again she did. Rachel was attentive, kind and gentle. 

Brittiany Mills, RN in NRV’s OR, truly went above and beyond in caring for our pediatric dental patients. Brittiany is always an excellent OR nurse and leader, but on this particular day she brought exceptional skill and compassion that made a meaningful difference for these patients. She was patient with every child and especially effective at calmly explaining procedures and supporting our special needs patients. Brittiany transformed what can often be a scary and traumatic experience into one that felt fun, safe, and comfortable.

When a patient's hearing aid batteries died, Dr. Torre generously replaced her batteries with some that he had and even offered to provide extra batteries for her. The patient stated she was so happy to hear again. A simple gesture of compassion fulfilling Carilion's values.  

I want to commend Amber Harmon for her authentic compassionate care coordinating hospice care for patients at Carilion. I had the pleasure of working alongside Amber for years, and last week as I rounded on 10S Palliative, I observed an interaction with her and a loved one of a patient. She navigated conversations with family during their most difficult moments, answering questions with kindness, providing relief for next steps, and ensuring their needs and wishes were met.

Shout out to the 9W team!  The unit currently has quite a few longer length of stay patients with them who they are working hard on keeping mobilized and occupied.  This week they brought them all up to the nurses station and played Bingo with them!  The patients loved it, getting very excited when they won.  One patient that normally is very quiet and does not communicate well even got involved, lifting his hand when they called his number!

Over winter break, a group of nurse externs from VWCC (Trevor Zaga) & NRCC’s Earn to Learn program (Zachary Scherer & Jessica Degrandi), a summer SOAR nurse extern (Andrik Mendez Ayala), with support from our Transition to Practice Team (Brittany Ashwell & Jennifer Alcorn), volunteered at the Rescue Mission serving dinner. 

While away from classes, these future nurses chose to give their time in service to others demonstrating the Carilion values of compassion & commitment beyond the clinical setting!

I would like to recognize Sharon Bratton. She works the front desk as a Healthcare Administrative Associate in Pediatric Support. There was a toddler that had come into Tanglewood Children's with a bad cough. While he and his mother waited patiently in the waiting area the toddler started coughing so bad that Sharon jumped into action and immediately called back to General Peds and told the nurse that they needed to see the patient immediately because she felt like something else was going on.

Through the generosity of the staff, residents, and faculty at the Roanoke-Salem Family Medicine and Southeast Family Medicine Clinics, 726 essential items—ranging from blankets and scarves to socks, hats, gloves, jackets, and shoes—were collected and shared with The Least of These, the Virginia Harm Reduction Coalition, Family Promise, and the Rescue Mission Women and Children’s Center. We are so thankful to head into 2026 with such a generous group of colleagues! 

General Surgery in Rocky Mount had a patient scheduled for an appointment and seemed to be running late.  Staff called to ask if he was still coming, and he stated he was there, but needed help getting out of his car.  Anita Arrington with the help of Diane Eames with Guest Services went to his car to escort him.  Staff noticed he had a dog in the car with him as well.  The patient had to be admitted immediately, and once the patient was taken to the ED, staff was worried about the dog.