The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association is marking National Hospital Week with a video highlighting the immense contributions made by the people who work in the VHHA’s 27 member health systems representing 110 hospitals.
The Hospital Week video featuring images of health care professionals and caregivers from across Virginia can be viewed online here.
VHHA has also created a Facebook profile image frame celebrating Hospital Week 2020 that can be accessed here.
Gov. Ralph Northam has issued an official proclamation in honor of Hospital Week 2020 that can be viewed online here.
“Community hospitals are essential to the people and places they serve, providing round-the-clock care to patients in need no matter the time or day,” said VHHA President and CEO Sean T. Connaughton. “In recent months, the COVID-19 pandemic has been an unmistakable public reminder of the vital importance of hospitals as critical providers of compassionate medical treatment. The frontline health care providers who work in hospitals across Virginia have demonstrated great resilience in the face of an emerging public health threat while working tirelessly and selflessly to keep Virginians safe and healthy. In addition to that important work, Virginia hospitals help power the state economy, as major employers that contribute roughly $40 billion in positive economic activity each year. Hospitals also conduct research to achieve medical breakthroughs, help deliver more than 90,000 babies each year, and accommodate more than 4.4 million patient days annually.”
National Hospital Week dates to 1921 and is celebrated each year in May to coincide with the birthday of famed nurse Florence Nightingale.
In Virginia, hospitals are leading the way in responding to COVID-19 and on many other important public health initiatives, including:
- The financial support hospitals are providing to cover the state’s share of costs to fund Medicaid expansion that has enabled approximately 400,000 Virginians to gain health coverage.
- Grant-funded work by VHHA Foundation, the charitable non-profit affiliate of VHHA, to support the implementation of Hospital-based Violence Intervention Programs (HVIP) at participating hospitals to help provide enhanced hospital-based services and resources to victims of violence in high-need communities.
- The VHHA and the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) collaboration on the “Partnering for a Healthy Virginia Initiative” to identify strategies for addressing the social factors that impact public health.
- Development of the Long-Term Care Mutual Aid Plan (LTC-MAP) between Virginia hospitals and other partners to establish a comprehensive process for nursing homes to assist each other during disasters and emergency events, such as those that require evacuations.
- The coordination of emergency management and preparedness activities through the engagement with the Virginia Healthcare Emergency Management Program (VHEMP).
- Efforts to enhance behavioral health care, substance use treatment, and improve maternal health outcomes.
- A determination to make Virginia the healthiest state in the nation by focusing on enhancing health care quality and safety. That work has been recognized by the LeapFrog Group in its fall 2019 Hospital Safety Grade scores when Virginia earned a top three ranking among states, in the 2019 America’s Health Rankings annual report in which Virginia was among the most improved states, Virginia’s ‘A’ grade in the most recent report from the Center to Advance Palliative Care and the National Palliative Care Research Center, and Virginia’s recognition as a top tier state in the Trust for America’s Health 2020 Ready or Not report on emergency preparedness.
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