The Medical Society Of Virginia Foundation
Virginia Health Improvement Initiative
2002 Grantees
Alliance for Families and Children
Parent Child Nurturing Program
Grant Award: $8,248
The Parent Child Nurturing (PCN) Program offers families primary and secondary prevention services as a way to counteract family stressors and prevent child abuse and neglect. The PCN Program is offered to families with children newborn to age 12 and is designed so that all family members receive services together. The program helps parents increase their understanding of child development, reduce the use of corporal punishment, and improve family communication. As parents learn more about nurturing, their level of empathy tends to increase and their ability to express their frustration in healthy ways is more likely, thereby decreasing the likelihood of hurting themselves or their children.
Contact for additional information about this project:
Jean Smock
Alliance for Families & Children
2600 Memorial Avenue, Suite 201
Lynchburg, VA 24501
434.846.1052, ext. 243
jeans@allianceva.org
Arlington Free Clinic
Complicated Care Management Project
Grant Award: $10,000
The Arlington Free Clinic developed and implemented an intensive “Complicated Care Management” program for free clinic patients whose illnesses require multiple levels of sub-specialty care and are severe enough that a volunteer general internist cannot manage the care alone. Each patient requiring this level of care is assigned to a “Care Management Team” consisting of a volunteer primary care physician, staff nurse, and a staff pharmacist. A “Complicated Care” summary sheet and the clinic’s automated patient tracking system are used as tools to effectively manage patient care by optimizing the coordination of the care received from multiple medical providers. The purpose of this type of care management is to improve disease management for these patients.
Contact for additional information about this project:
Nancy Sanger Pallesen
Arlington Free Clinic
2926 Columbia Pike
Arlington, VA 22204
703.979.1425
npallesen@arlingtonfreeclinic.org
Beach Health Clinic
Lower Your Score Hypertension Program
Grant Amount: $10,000
“Lower Your Score” was created to provide outreach, screening, laboratory testing, and treatment to low-income, uninsured residents of Virginia Beach who are at-risk for hypertension and high cholesterol. The free clinic partnered with Sentara Community Health and the local public health department. Together they provided community-based sites to screen individuals without a medical home for the treatment of hypertension and high cholesterol. Individuals identified as hypertensive were provided with a primary medical facility for treatment to reduce their blood pressure and/or cholesterol levels.
Contact for additional information about this project:
Harold W. Markham, MD or Susan Hellstrom
Beach Health Clinic, Inc.
3396 Holland Road, Suite 102
Virginia Beach, VA 23452-4824
757.428.5601
susanh@beachhealthclinic.com
Eastern Virginia Medical School, Center for Pediatric Research
Asthma Education Video
Grant Award: $10,000
EVMS developed a video to teach asthmatic children and their parents how to appropriately use metered-dose inhalers. The video was designed to serve as a strong adjunct to asthma education efforts within physicians’ offices, school nurses’ offices, and home visiting programs. The video was distributed throughout the Hampton Roads area.
Contact for additional information about this project:
Cynthia S. Kelly, MD or Judith C. Taylor-Fishwick, MSc, AE-C
Center for Pediatric Research, EVMS
855 West Brambleton Avenue
Norfolk, VA 23510
757.668.6400
taylorj@chkd.com
University of Virginia Health System
Coal Counties Patient Transportation Project
Grant Amount: $10,000
This project was implemented by staff at UVA Health System, Lenowisco and Cumberland Plateau Health Departments, and St. Mary’s Health Wagon. It provided transportation assistance for patients living in the far southwestern portion of the State. Patients in need of transportation, primarily for specialty medical care, who were unable to afford such transportation, were able to request assistance with these transportation costs. Staff from the aforementioned organizations assessed patients’ medical needs, determined the most appropriate site for treatment, and then identified the best and most cost-effective way to get the patient to the needed medical care site.
Contact for additional information about this project:
Claudette Dalton, MD
UVA Health System
P.O. Box 800325
Charlottesville, VA 22908-0325
434.924.2629
ced2t@virginia.edu
University of Virginia Health System
Emergency Department Program for Treatment of Congestive Heart Failure Patients
Grant Award: $9,965
This project created an organized protocol to optimize diagnosis, treatment, and social work screening for congestive heart failure patients presenting at the UVA Emergency Department. The project team worked to improve patient care while reducing the admission rates. In addition, the promotion of secondary prevention through patient and family education worked to reduce subsequent hospitalization rates.
Contact for additional information about this project:
Chris Ghaemagnami, MD
University of Virginia Health System
P.O. Box 800699
Charlottesville, VA 22908-0699
434.982.4118
cg3n@virginia.edu
University of Virginia Health System’s Department of Family Medicine
International Family Medicine Clinic
Grant Award: $9,946
Grant funds were used to help establish an International Family Medicine Clinic (IFMC) within UVA’s Department of Family Medicine. The purpose of the clinic is to create a medical home for refugees and other immigrants who have settled in central Virginia. IFMC provides comprehensive and cohesive care for refugees and other patients with limited English proficiency. The clinic works closely with other local organizations that also work with this population and provides translation services where needed.
Contact for additional information about this project:
Fern R. Hauck, MD
University of Virginia Health System
P.O. Box 800729
Charlottesville, VA 22908-0729
434.924.1835
frh8e@virginia.edu
