Gueorgui Gadjelov (George) left Bulgaria on July 19, 1999. He won a "Diversity Visa" (commonly known as the visa lottery) through the Department of State. He is one of only 3 recipients that we've had at the Laundry that have won this opportunity. George wanted to get his family out of Bulgaria, as life there was difficult with the "mafia" and poor economic conditions.

Nteze Marco ("Marco") fled the fighting in Burundi in the 1980s. He and his family spent more than 20 years in refugee camps, first in Rwanda, then Tanzania. They were finally resettled in Roanoke, May 30, 2007. Marco joined the team at Carilion Laundry on February 7, 2008. He has 6 children.

https://www.aanp.org/news-feed/new-television-ad-highlights-nurse-practitioner-np-role-amid-covid-19-pandemic

Mevla and Hamdija Ibrahimovic came to the United States 20 years ago from Bosnia-Herzegovina to find a better life. Becoming US citizens is the culmination of such a courageous decision. Mevla gained her US citizenship on June 9, 2020 in Norfolk, VA. She gave up her lunch breaks to study everyday at the Laundry for the interview and test.

This team has been a key part of Carilion's community facing efforts during COVID.  The Community Hotline was stood up back in March to help answer our community's concerns and questions.  These ladies stepped out of their comfort zone to answer these calls.

The picture shows the current team, left to right:

Wanted to send a shout out to the Riverside 3 Patient Access Staff! They have been Amazing through all the changes that have been given to them on almost a daily basis, and I am so thankful to have them on my team. I am constantly speaking about being the best version of ourselves and they practice this on a daily basis. I am so thankful to have such a dedicated staff.

Please join myself and the RMH Onboarding Team with congratulating Katelynn Booth for completing her MSN-Education at Liberty University. 

This video is a special tribute to our Home Health and Hospice team members who are still courageously going into patients homes providing care to our most vulnerable. This team is keeping our patients safe at home where they need and want to be.

Received a call from the Transfer Center for an upgrade from Med Surg to a PCU.  I then called the floor to check on the patient when Valerie Hobbs came into the office and said, "this patient has a critical blood gas and needs to be admitted to an ICU".  I then called the transfer center again to inform them that this patient would need an ICU bed.  I just wanted to give a special thanks to Valerie for a great catch and having the courage to advocate for a critically ill patient.  Way to go Valerie!

Reported by Vice Chair Christopher Mertes: 

I want to shout out to our leadership team in Blacksburg for a job well done!  As if things were not crazy enough with COVID...