The Novant Health UVA Health System will resume medically necessary, time-sensitive procedures.

Prince William Medical Center and Haymarket Medical Center will be rescheduling patients with postponed appointments and procedures. In addition, they will also provide imaging, labs, and other appointments to support these procedures.

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There’s a new chief of human resources at overseeing two of the region’s largest hospitals — Novant Health / UVA Health System Prince William and Haymarket medical centers. 

Julie Hixson Sujik joined the system as the chief human resource officer.

Sujik’s role will be to oversee the system’s human resources management. This includes its three acute care facilities, clinics, and other healthcare facilities located in Culpeper, Gainesville, Haymarket, Manassas, and Warrenton.

“I look forward to stepping into this new, system-wide role and working with the existing talent to develop a comprehensive human resources service delivery model across all of Novant Health UVA Health System,” states Sujik in a press release.

Sujik is a former member of the Workforce Initiative Board and the Shenandoah Valley Workforce Development Board. She served on both executive and finance committees.

With over 25 years of experience as a collaborative human resources executive, she is certified by the Society for Human Resource Management and the HR Certification Institute.

She earned her master’s degree in organization development and knowledge management from George Mason University. In addition, she also has a bachelor’s degree in finance from James Madison University. 

Sujik served as vice president and director of human resources for Valley Health System in Winchester, Virginia. She also served as the vice president of human resources for The Teaching Company in Chantilly, Virginia, and the human resources director for Inova Fair Oaks Hospital in Fairfax, Virginia. 

Recently, Sujik was the leader of human resources at Fauquier Health/LifePoint Health in Warrenton Virginia. There, she launched a system-wide ambassador program to improve staff engagement. She also fostered relationships with community colleges and high schools to build a local pipeline.

“We’re excited to welcome Julie to Novant Health UVA Health System and to have her years of expertise leading our human resources function in support of our strategic, operational, and financial objectives,” states Al Pilong, senior vice president and chief executive officer of Novant Health UVA Health System in a press release. 

Novant Health UVA Health System is a network of physician clinics, outpatient services, and medical centers in northern and central Virginia. Founded in 2016, it is a partnership between Novant Health and UVA Health System.

Buildings in Stafford County remain closed to the public.

In accordance with Governor Ralph Northam’s Executive Order #55 stay-at-home order, Stafford officials will extend building closures through June 10, 2020.

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Some of the budget priorities passed into Fiscal Year 2021 adopted budget by the Prince William County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday’s meeting are those championed by Woodbridge District Supervisor Margaret Franklin.

The Board of County Supervisors approved a budget that will increase the average Real Estate tax bill for county residents, netting additional money for the county budget that is now about $40 million lighter than it had been before the coronavirus outbreak, thanks, in part, to a collapse in sales tax revenues brought on the by the government-ordered shutdown.

In a press release, Franklin outlines what she says are wins included in the coming year’s budget:

These priorities include creating a Child Advocacy Center to help victims of child abuse, a housing assistance program to aid residents in rental assistance and creating a small business relief fund to help struggling small business owners. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, these budget items are crucial in mitigating the impact of COVID-19 and supporting residents during this critical time. All of the budget proposals came with pre-determined offsets that did not require any new county spending.

FY21 Budget Priorities

Establishing a Child Advocacy Center 

The Child Advocacy Center is a child-friendly place where professionals who provide treatment, investigate, and prosecute child abuse cases can coordinate their efforts. On average, CACs reduce the number of times a child must recount their abuse from 15 to 3. This model also save $1,318 per case in investigation and prosecution costs and provides four times more medical exams to victims of abuse. 

PASSED with $1250,00 of funding coming from the General Fund.

COVID-19 Budget Priorities

Small Business Relief Fund

The Small Business Emergency Relief Fund is an initiative to support our small business community and provide immediate relief to those whose needs were not met by the Federal SBA loan program. This program will allow small business owners to apply for locally funded small dollar loans that would be reviewed by the Industrial Development Authority (IDA). 

PASSED with “Up to 1 million dollars” of funding from the Economic Development Fund with the potential for a federal match.  

Housing Emergency Aid Program

Housing Emergency Aid program supports our residents who are hit the hardest by the impact of COVID-19. This program will allow residents to apply for assistance with living expenses such as rent, if they meet specific application requirements. 

This is separate from the federally funded Housing Choice Voucher Rental Assistance program, as this program has been on a ten-year waitlist and applications have remained closed. Supervisor Franklin hopes to provide more immediate relief to our residents during this pandemic. 

PASSED with 500k from the “Affordable Housing Proffer Fund” with the potential for a federal match. 

Housing our Homeless Population

Supervisor Franklin is supportive of our county’s efforts to help and house our homeless community, one of the most exposed and vulnerable populations during this pandemic. Individuals without stable housing face greater difficulty taking preventative actions and are often in poorer health than other residents. Now is the time to prioritize assistance to high-risk individuals and families, while providing safe temporary housing for individuals who need isolation and quarantine. 

“I am proud to introduce these initiatives to help our most vulnerable residents.  Now, more than ever, our county needs us to offer services that will benefit the health and well-being of all our residents and small businesses. As a board, we need to stand together and ensure we take care of Prince William County,” Supervisor Franklin said.

Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, Toys for Tots steps up to deliver toys, games, and books for children.

Toys for Tots is a non-profit national charity program run by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. 

During each holiday season, they collect and distribute an average of 18 million toys to seven million less fortunate kids. To do this, they have a distribution network of over 800 communities in all 50 states.

Despite having a large inventory of new donated toys, games, and books on hand, because it’s outside of the holiday season, they do not have a distribution network in place to get the donations in the hands of the needy. 

“In these unprecedented times, we’re deeply concerned about COVID-19 and it’s devastating impact on the lives of all Americans and want to offer assistance now,” states Retired Lt. Gen Jim Laster, USMC, President and CEO of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation in a press release.

They have partnered up with Good360, and have distributed two million toys, games, and books to families-in-need.

Good360 is a global leader in product philanthropy and purposeful giving. They partner with socially responsible companies to source highly needed goods and distribute them to people in need. 

In addition, they have distributed more than $9 billion in donated goods around the world and helped its network of over 93,000 prequalified nonprofits strengthen communities and improve the lives of millions.

This year, Toys for Tots and Good360’s relief efforts have been made possible by the donations of their partners. These partners include Hasbro, Lego, Disney, Funko, Five Below, and Build-a-bear. 

In celebration of Earth Day, 100 trees will be planted in Manassas

This donation comes from SWIFT, a provider of secure financial messaging services. These trees will be given to four city parks and three Manassas City public schools. 

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Tenants at the Manassas Mall will are getting some relief when it comes to their monthly rent payments. 

From April to May, the retail landlord will give a 60% to 70% rent discount for tenants. Tenants will have to pay their share of the common area maintenance charges and property taxes. Owners of the mall, Out of the Box Ventures will pay out of pocket to cover the remaining cost of the rents.

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An original founder of a syndicated morning show that airs on a Fredericksburg radio will make his return.

Steve Boyd will rejoin the cast of hosts at “Brooke and Jubal in the Morning” on Live 99.3 WVBX-FM after a four-month hiatus. Boyd is credited with launching the show, and for its rise to national syndication.

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Even with the federal government encouraging social distancing, neighbors in the small town of Occoquan are still seeing a lot of each other.

In Occoquan, residents do not have their mail delivered. Instead, they go directly to the post office to retrieve it.

It’s an exception to the rule in an area where the majority of mail is delivered by hand to individual mailboxes. However, with the coronavirus outbreak, the post office has taken action to ensure the health of its staff and the public.

“I haven’t seen any problems at the post office. Everybody’s very polite here in town. One person comes in, they go to the desk, and take care of their business. The other person stays back, six feet if not more, and the rest of the people stay outside and wait,” said restaurant owner Kathy Anderson, who operates three businesses in the town — Bar J Chili Parlor, the Grind N Crepe, and The Third Base Pizza & Frozen Custard.

The U.S. Postal Service declined to be interviewed for this story.

Steps that the Occoquan Post Office has taken include monitoring their inner and outer lobbies, only allowing two people in each at a time, and encouraging people to remain six feet apart from each other. They have also distributed gloves, masks, and disinfectants to their employees and have posted instructions for residents to follow CDC guidelines, we’re told.

Meanwhile, the town council is working to continuously provide information to Occoquan residents and following the guidance of Governor Ralph Northam and the CDC.

Mayor Earnie Porta has released multiple newsletters with information regarding social distancing, the mail, businesses, and the 2020 Census. He has encouraged residents to pick up their Census form and fill it out online.

The police department has also been tasked to interact with residents and to answer any questions they have.

“We’re getting information out to folks to consistently be providing information on our websites, to let people know how we’re gonna be supporting them. To get all the key information that people need to know about where they can go to get what kind of information, whether it be Prince William Emergency Management or our department of health for Virginia. I’m trying to get that information to people consistently,” said Occoquan Town Council member and Chairman of the Planning Commission, Eliot Perkins.

More information can be found through Mayor Porta’s newsletters, the Occoquan town website.