Measured steps
Although Hampton Roads health care systems conducted some significant business over the past year, the biggest news was a deal that didn’t happen. Norfolk-based Sentara Healthcare’s plan to merge with North Carolina-based Cone Health, which was announced in August 2020 and would have created a 17-hospital system with a combi[...]
Governor: Staff shortages becoming dire in Va. hospitals
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said that hospital workers in the state are “losing their patience” and that medical facilities will not be able to handle all patients with COVID-19 or other ailments if hospitals are understaffed beyond where they are now. “They need our help,” he said Monday at a news confer[...]
Va. rolls out digital proof for vaccinations
The Virginia Department of Health has started adding scannable QR codes to COVID-19 vaccination records, digitizing the proof-of-vaccination process, the state announced Thursday. VDH said QR codes available now cannot be altered or forged, and health information is available from the codes only if and when a person chooses to s[...]
U.Va. Cancer Center earns highest level in National Cancer Institute designations
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the National Institutes of Health awarded the University of Virginia Cancer Center a Comprehensive Cancer Center designation that will be effective Feb. 1, 2022, making it the 52nd program in the nation to currently hold the designation and the only one in Virginia. “This achievement is exemplary of the […]
UVA Health hires talent acquisition/retention senior director
UVA Health has hired Charles Bodden as its first senior director for talent acquisition and retention, the Charlottesville-based university health system announced Thursday. Bodden starts his new post on Sept. 27. His initial priorities will include establishing a formal strategy for diversity and inclusion recruitment. “U[...]
VCU Medical Center names new president
Michael Roussos will be the next president of Richmond’s VCU Medical Center, starting in December, VCU Health System announced Wednesday. Roussos was previously the lead administrator for University Hospital in San Antonio, where he led the hospital’s COVID-19 response. Roussos also aided in the hospital’s transiti[...]
Spok reviewing options for potential sale of company
Arlington-based health care communications tech company Spok Holdings Inc. announced Friday that it is conducting a strategic review of its options, which may include selling the publicly traded company. California-based Acacia Research Corp. and its partner, New York-based Starboard Value LP, publicly expressed interest in acquiring Spok and have accumulated more than 5% of Spok’s […]
Valley Health tells workers to get vaccinated
Nicole Clark wants the nurses she supervises to do everything they can to keep themselves, their patients and co-workers safe from COVID-19. That means wearing personal protective equipment, social distancing, frequent hand washing — and getting vaccinated against the disease. Valley Health, a nonprofit health system that incl[...]
Inova Loudoun Hospital names permanent chief
Inova Health System announced that Susan Carroll will be its permanent president of Inova Loudoun Hospital, effective Monday. Carroll has been serving in the interim role since July, while also serving as the president of Inova Fair Oaks Hospital. Carroll will work to establish areas of clinical growth and participate in the rec[...]
Hampton Roads universities ink deal to establish public health school
The presidents of Old Dominion University, Norfolk State University and Eastern Virginia Medical School signed a memorandum of understanding Thursday to establish Virginia’s first school of public health. The MOU solidifies the plan announced in January to develop a regional school of public health and address health inequitie[...]
More Va. health systems announce vaccine mandates
Major hospital systems in Hampton Roads and Central Virginia announced Wednesday that they will require all employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. In Hampton Roads, Chesapeake Regional Healthcare, Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, Riverside Health System and Sentara Healthcare jointly announced the r[...]
Virginia Health Information CEO to retire
Michael T. Lundberg, the founding CEO of Virginia Health Information, has announced his retirement at the end of October. Lundberg, whose last day is Oct. 31, has been with Richmond-based nonprofit health care data organization since its founding in 1993 and led VHI from a $300,000-per-year organization to one anticipating more [...]