Centra Health

Centra is pleased to sponsor the Lynchburg Turkey Trot! Every registration feeds TWO families a Thanksgiving meal in our community. Proceeds from this race also help benefit the programs of HumanKind which provide a broad range of services that foster the social, mental and financial well-being of families and individuals in our community. These programs serve thousands of people in Lynchburg and across Virginia each year! Centra will be cheering all runners and walkers on! Gobble gobble!?

Overtime, many of our Centra providers have completed medical missions to serve others beyond central Virginia. This month, we’re sharing about Dr. Peter O’Brien and Haley Russell’s work in East Africa and exploring how their trips to this region have brought lifesaving care to underserved populations and shaped their perspectives on patient care back home. ? Peter O’Brien, MD, CPPS, FACC, who is the Medical Director of Centra Stroobants Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and Chief Quality Officer of Centra’s Heart and Vascular Institute, isn’t exactly sure what first motivated him to get involved with medical missions, but when Dillan Ellegala, a neurosurgeon and the founder of Madaktari Africa reached out to him and other HVI providers in 2011, he knew he wanted to be involved. “He [Ellegala] asked if we could help start a cardiac catheterization lab in Tanzania. I had no clue what I was getting into, but it felt like the right time to give back," Dr. O’Brien shared. This opportunity turned into an ongoing partnership that helped build one of the busiest cardiac catheterization labs in Sub-Saharan Africa. ? Reflecting on the mission's "train forward" philosophy, he explained, "The hope was that these providers and staff would then train others and carry forward this program, thereby creating sustainable medical capacity that would endure long after we were gone. It was part medical mission, part proof of concept and it worked.” ? Now, 80% of the procedures the center performs occur without foreign help. While completing the first cardiac catheterization in Tanzanian history, and then the first coronary stent at a public hospital are experiences Dr. O’Brien will never forget.? ? Dr. O’Brien isn’t the only provider from Centra who has spent time in Tanzania. Haley Russell, MSN, NP-C who serves as the Lead Cardiac Electrophysiology Advanced Practice Provider at Centra’s Heart and Vascular Institute traveled to the country for the last two years to work with Madaktari Africa in providing cardiac electrophysiology education to the medical community in Dar Es Salaam at Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI). ? During her time there, she focused on continuing prior efforts to expand cardiac electrophysiology education to cardiologists, fellows, nurses, technologists and medical staff. Additionally, she worked alongside leaders of JKCI to assist with program development and process improvement. ? Haley noted, “Each day I rounded on patients in the cardiac ICU and medical wards and participated with medical decision making and education. The majority of the conditions I treated were cardiac conditions including heart rhythm conditions such as atrial fibrillation, complete heart block, bradycardia, SVT, and PVCs, as well as cardiogenic shock and heart failure.” ? Thank you to our Centra providers for making an impact in healing beyond borders! #centrahealth Matt Sackett

Join us Monday, November 25, 2024, through Wednesday, December 11, 2024, to see the Trees of Hope at Centra Alan B. Cancer Center, hosted by the Centra Alan B. Pearson Regional Cancer Center, benefiting the Centra Cancer Fund! Nowhere else in Lynchburg will you see 46 trees, wreaths, and holiday decorations with individual themes and decorations all in one place!

Centra Health nurses enjoyed a wonderful evening celebrating one another last night at the Virginia Nurses Foundation Gala. I’m very proud of the number of awards for which Centra nurses were nominated. I’d like to give a special shout out to our Clinical Professional Development Manager, Christopher Parker, who won the Nurse Educator award; an award for which he is long overdue! Nominations include: Tiffany Malave - Nurse Educator (won) Christopher Parker - Nurse Educator (won) Caryn Brown, MSN, MHA, RN, NPD-BC, NEA-BC - Nurse Manager/Director Carolyn Hitchcock - Nurse Manager/ Director Robbie Price - Nurse Manager/ Director (won) Tiffany Covarrubias-Lyttle - Nurse Manager/ Director (won) Jackie Weaver - Nurse Manager/ Director Holly Puckett DNP, RN, CNE, CMSRN - Nurse Researcher

Congratulations to Centra Bedford Memorial Hospital on this outstanding achievement!

Today we are highlighting Tommy's journey into healthcare! Tommy Field began working at Virginia Baptist Hospital in May 1991 and worked through August 1994 as a temporary employee through Manpower. In 1994, Tommy was hired on full-time at Centra after the Grounds Departments of VBH & LGH merged. Being promoted to Manager of the Grounds Department 16 years after starting out as temporary employee who mowed grass in the summer is still one of Tommy’s favorite memories from his time at Centra. Having now worked for the organization for 33 years, he loves having the satisfaction of helping to create an environment across the organization that includes manicured lawns, groomed hedges and shrubs, clean parking lots, attractive flower beds and clean facility entrances.

We were honored to attend the Rural Health Voice Conference in Abingdon, VA which emphasized the crucial importance of rural health. The event not only recognized the challenges faced but also underscored the achievements and opportunities within Virginia's rural health sector. It spotlighted the remarkable dedication of organizations and individuals working tirelessly to improve and uplift these communities. #RuralHealth #CommunityImpact

Today we celebrate National Rural Health Day! Since 2011, the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health has set aside the third Thursday of November to celebrate the "Power of Rural" on National Rural Health Day. This day serves as an opportunity to bring attention to and honor the incredible efforts of rural healthcare providers, communities, organizations, State Offices of Rural Health, and other stakeholders dedicated to addressing the unique healthcare needs of rural America. ? Centra serves over 500,000 people across 50 locations. As the leading provider of critical medical services in central and southern Virginia, we continuously strive to enhance the services of our rural hospitals in Bedford and Farmville. Learn more about our efforts related to workforce development, transportation, maternal health, behavioral health and telehealth to influence rural health outcomes positively. https://lnkd.in/edDT46iE

March 2023, we unveiled Centra’s ambitious multi-year modernization plan—our largest investment in facilities and infrastructure to date! This plan addresses key community needs identified in our 2021 Community Health Needs Assessment, and we’re already seeing great progress. Since this announcement, exciting progress has been made on the Centra Langhorne Medical Center and Centra Simons Run Medical Campus, as well as parking lot and wayfinding work at Centra Lynchburg General Hospital. We can’t wait to share even more progress with you in the months ahead! Read more about our Modernization update here: https://lnkd.in/eMSxY9ju

We have some more exciting news to share from Centra's Heart & Vascular Institute!? Recently, Dr. Matt Sackett and the Electrophysiology (EP) team at Centra Heart & Vascular Institute successfully performed Centra’s first Pulsed Field Ablation (PFA) procedure, marking an important milestone in advanced cardiac care in the region. PFA, approved by the FDA in February 2024, offers a novel treatment option for atrial fibrillation (AFib)—a common heart rhythm disorder that can lead to blood clots and increase the risk of stroke. “Pulsed field ablation is the newest advance in ablation technology for atrial fibrillation. Previous ablation has used thermal energy with either heat (radiofrequency) or cold (cryoablation), which had a risk of damage to surrounding structures such as the esophagus and the phrenic nerve,” explained Dr. Matthew Sackett. “This energy is tailored to avoid such collateral injury and only ablate the targeted heart muscle tissue.” ? Read more about this exciting new advancement here: https://lnkd.in/eVBsbu4B