Dear team,
With the uncertainty of the Delta variant, and as many of us settle our families into a new school year, we know there is still a lot on your minds and on your plates. September 22 is the official first day of fall and on the day of the autumnal equinox, day and night are the same length. This is something that ancient cultures have always associated with the concept of balance. Please remember to take the time you need for yourself and your families to find that balance.
This month, we’re focusing on service. There is a myth out there that service involves self-sacrifice. We believe service is about finding meaning in our work that fills us up and helps us to live to our highest values. In his book Built to Serve, Evan Carmichael says, “If you're not happy, it is because you're not serving.” Carmichael suggests figuring out your most important core value as the place to start. He says, “Every time you take a step on that staircase of growth, you can reach back and pull somebody up with you.”
As UVA Health team members, we are dedicated to serving our patients and their families. Thank you for choosing to serve others every day.
Jim, Liz, Karin, Billy, Ann, Jennifer, Leigh & Jef
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Why Research is the Key to Improving Pediatric Heart Transplants Rates |
Learn more from Dr. Michael McCulloch about finding the time it takes to do important research and how it can change your work.
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Meet Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Lisa Badeau
Learn more about Lisa's work since February and her vision for UVA Children’s and Pediatrics.
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Learn more about the latest updates on epidemiology, variants, vaccines, and more.
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Together We Make a Difference |
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Theme of the Month:
Service
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Quotes of the Week
September 6: “Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.” ~ Howard Zinn
September 13: “You have two hands. One to help yourself, the second to help others.” ~ Audrey Hepburn
September 20: “Always render more and better service than is expected of you, no matter what your task may be.” ~ Og Mandino
September 27: “There is incredible value in being of service to others.” ~ Elizabeth Berg
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Mark Your Calendar
Professional Recognition & Health Awareness Days
- Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month
- Blood, Prostate, and Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
- Healthy Aging Month
- National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month
- National Cholesterol Education Month
- National Food Safety Education Month
- National Recovery Month
- National Sickle Cell Month
- Newborn Screening Awareness Month
- Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) Month
- Sepsis Awareness Month
- World Alzheimer’s Month
- Labor Day (September 6)
- World Physical Therapy Day (September 8)
- World Suicide Prevention Day (September 10)
- National Celiac Disease Awareness Day (September 13)
- National Pharmacist Day (September 26)
- World Heart Day (September 29)
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Check out the September calendar from Action for Happiness. This month we're encouraging everyone to be kinder to themselves (as well as others), especially when things go wrong. Self-care increases our resilience and helps us get more out of life.
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Shantal Savage, Manager, UVA Children’s Quality |
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Q: Proudest/greatest achievement outside of the professional realm?
A: As cliché as it may sound, my family is my greatest achievement to date. Raising my phenomenal 5-year-old daughter Emmanuelle is such a joy. She is brilliant, sharp-witted, and very kind, and I really can’t believe I get to be her mother. I love watching her grow and learn; even after responding to her 15th counterargument as to why her bedtime should be later… My husband is a force within his own right, and building, leading, life-ing with him is always an adventure. They really do make my life wonderful.
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Q: What are you usually doing on the weekend or during time off?
A: If I’m not napping (my current pastime of choice) I’m singing (often at church), watching The Office, reading, baking, gardening (translate: attempting to resuscitate the plants I’ve neglected) or generally trying to entertain my daughter.
Q: Best advice anyone ever gave you?
A: You can’t compare yourself to others; it’s pointless and distracts you from your real calling – being the best ‘you’ that you can be.
Q: What about you would surprise us?
A: I’m an Army brat, so I have spent a lot of time travelling and exploring the world. I’ve been in Charlottesville for almost 7 years now, and this is the longest I have ever lived in a single location!
Q: What would someone underestimate about you?
A: My creativity. I often find myself seeing things a bit differently than most, which has served me well in much of my life. I love a challenge, or seemingly-impossible scenario, because it pushes me to bring the best of all that I’ve learned and experienced together to make something new.
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Julian Knipper Memorial Fund
On August 31, 2020, Julian Knipper (age 3) died in a tragic accident on his family farm. Weeks after his death, the Knipper family worked with UVA to set up the Julian Knipper Fund, which has raised over $100,000. The funds raised will go to supporting Child Life Services for pediatric patients with cancer and/or bone marrow transplantation and thus ease the pain and suffering of many children for years to come. Stay tuned for details on the dedication ceremony.
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Sickle Cell Awareness Blood Drive
September is Sickle Cell Awareness Month. Please join the Pediatric Comprehensive Sickle Cell Program, directed by Dr. Emily Moses, when we partner with the American Red Cross to host a blood drive on September 7, 2021 from 12pm-5pm to honor patients LIVING with Sickle Cell Disease. Donations by appointment only. Register for an appointment at giveblood@virginia.edu
Date: Tuesday, September 7
Time: 12:00 – 5:00pm
Location: Quayle Learning Center
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CHRC Seminar Series
Date: Friday, September 10
Time: 12:00 - 1:00pm
Title: “Exercise-induced mitochondrial remodeling: Cash for Clunkers”
Speaker: Zhen Yan, MS, PhD, Director, Center for Skeletal Muscle Research, Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center
Meeting ID: 966 5861 2517
Passcode: 561014
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Thank you for providing space and support for UVA Pediatric Nephrology to build a critical resource for renal patients and their care givers. The effort has been well recognized in the community.
For patients and families, this room allows them to have a dedicated space to use that is without distractions and has ongoing educational activities. It allows us to do all our outpatient training in one place instead of having to beg for space in different places. Families are able to see that we as an institution are dedicated to supporting them in a very tangible manner.
Since the reputable children’s hospitals have education space dedicated to dialysis, this is a major step forward for our program. It is something we have worked toward for quite some time.
We have joined SCOPE which is a national QI project and requires more focused and dedicated long term education of the home dialysis patients to prevent infections so their monthly visits will be longer than they used to be. This room allows the visits to be done in a familiar place where all supplies are easily available.
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UVA scored a 95 on the mPINC Survey, including perfect scores on immediate postpartum care, rooming-in, discharge support, and institutional management! The average score in the US is an 81. Way to go, team!
The Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care (mPINC) Survey is a national survey of newborn feeding practices in hospitals in the United States and territories that provided maternity services in the last year.
"We are very proud of our team’s score of 95 on the mPINC survey. We are even more proud of their passion and commitment to high quality care for our mothers and babies. It takes ongoing dedication and consistent training for the team to ensure we are sticking to best practices. It’s a team effort and this team knocked it out of the park, especially in this time of high stress." - Karin Skeen & Dr. Leigh Cantrell
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Annual Summer Reading Celebration |
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Clinic staff are ready to greet families at the Reading Drive-Thru & Odin Williams, age 2, turns in his reading log |
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The UVA Pediatrics at Orange clinic hosted its Annual Summer Reading Celebration on Monday, August 9, with support from UVA Children’s Hospital and the UVA Hospital Education Program. Due to COVID-19 and safety precautions, this year’s event included a Drive-Thru Celebration. Children read over the summer and turned in their reading logs in exchange for tote bags full of books, prizes, UVA t-shirts, craft kits, and coupons. Popsicles were also enjoyed by families from their cars on this warm afternoon.
Many thanks to the Soho Center for its partnership with UVA Children’s for book donations as well as McDonald’s and Sheetz of Orange for coupons awarded to all reading participants!
We wish all of our patients and families the best as they return to school for the 2021-2022 school year! We hope the enthusiasm for reading carries over into new experiences and adventures with learning this year!
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Thank You, Books at Birth – Yes! Volunteers |
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On August 12, six volunteers from School of Medicine and Volunteer Services stuffed over 1000 books into 210 bags for the Books at Birth – Yes! program. The books are a generous in- kind donation from George and Jeanna Beker of the Soho Center. These bags are given to new Mom’s that discharge with the newborns. Thank you to all involved! |
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Robbie Newman, Assistant General Manager/ Merchandizing, Old Navy Stores, Barracks Shopping Center |
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Over 12 Old Navy stores from North Carolina and Virginia stores collaborated on a toy drive. Their results were fruitful! On August 16, Old Navy stores donated over 100 toys and stuffed animals to UVA Children’s Inpatient and Outpatient Clinics. Thank you, Old Navy! |
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From Rebecca Scharf and Matt Thomas: We’ve been watching with heavy hearts the turmoil around the world, and many have been looking for ways to help. For those interested in supporting refugee members in our community, please consider the following:
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International Rescue Committee (click here for donation and volunteer opportunities): You can donate directly to the IRC or provide gift cards (e.g. Food Lion, Kroger, Walmart, Amazon) for families to purchase items they need. You can also volunteer your time (e.g. help set up apartments for newly-arrived refugees) or space (e.g. temporary housing).
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International Neighbors: IN is taking donations of money and/or time to help families file I-130 forms and seeking volunteers to help families in other ways (e.g. drop off groceries).
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From Eliza Holland: On November 7th, I will be participating in the New York City Marathon on behalf of pediatric cancer research at Memorial Sloan Kettering. It is a big commitment, but I am excited to help the pediatric community in this way. Please consider a donation towards my fundraising goal of $3500.
Suggested donations:
$26.20: A dollar per mile
$52.40: "Better you than me"
$100: You can write the name of a child to honor on my race shirt
Like games of luck? Look out for information about a 50/50 raffle this fall.
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Children's Hospital Backgrounds |
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Custom Zoom and WebEx backgrounds are now available on the UVA Health Brand site. To download, log in to your account or request access. You may also contact Cody Ragland for an emailed copy of the backgrounds.
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August 20: Dr. Brooke Vergales made it to Pediatrics Today SmartBrief!
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7 West: Everyone from the nurses, to the doctors and everyone was so nice and kind! We were very thankful.
Ortho: Dr. Bachmann & staff are simply the best. We'd never go anywhere else.
8 Central: Everything and everyone was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. I would like to thank them all so much for making my visit as comfortable as possible.
Gastro: RN was very sweet, kind and attentive - she even offered us snack/drink since we traveled 3 hours to get to appointment.
Dev Peds: Dr. Norwood was professional, thorough, and kind. I would recommend him to anyone.
Endo: The doctor is fantastic! So calm, friendly, professional. Answered all of our questions. Explained everything in an understanding way. Very educational, helpful appointment. Very pleased!
Otol: Extremely kind & professional, appreciate his relaxed and calm demeanor. I hope Dr. Brand never loses his compassion for others - he is inspiring.
Renal: I am beyond impressed with the pediatric renal staff at UVA! They have continued to be the highlight of our care for Russ.
Cardio: I can write a book about this doctor! He was so nice and professional and he cares so much about my baby and how I feel... I'm in love with this place and I can't even explain how grateful I am for all these people. Once I get inside the building, I feel a such happiness and hope and life is so peaceful.
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Paisley Mae McDaniel
Born May 12
Brittany Shifflett
Access Associate Senior for UVA Children’s
"My experience with UVA maternal and fetal medicine was the best experience ever. I could not have asked for better nurses and midwives throughout my whole pregnancy / labor and delivery. Thank you!"
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Have a story idea? Let us know!
Working on an exciting new project? Want to spread the word about your clinic? Know a team member that should be recognized? We can help!
WCH Communication and Culture Workgroup
The WCH Communication and Culture workgroup focuses on team-building, keeping us all in touch with the meaning of our work, giving us all common language and common goals, and helping to ensure that every member of our team, regardless of role, feels welcomed, included, respected, heard, and valued. We are always seeking new members, new ideas, and feedback!
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Monthly Matters newsletter archive
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