If you have a new baby – or even a grandchild – on the way, Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center is now offering FREE online childbirth, parenting and grandparenting education until January 2024.
Each class contains high-quality videos and animations to help explain concepts easily. Classes cover topics such as pregnancy, labor, childbirth, breastfeeding, baby care, postpartum health, parenting and more.
All classes are available in both English and Spanish at injoyonline.com. Use redemption code “sentara” (all lowercase). Simply create an account to get started: injoyonline.com.
After two-year hiatus, the Sentara 3D mammography van returns to communities in Northern Virginia.
You can spot the van in under-served communities across the region. Employees inside the van provide screenings to help detect breast cancer — to 20 appointments a day.
If you would like to schedule the 3D mobile mammography van, send your request to [email protected] or call 703-523-1997.
More in a press release:
Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center announces that its 3D mammography van will begin visiting communities throughout its service area beginning March 30, 2023. Challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain issues for parts needed for repair kept the van out of service in 2021 and 2022.
The 3D mammography van brings the same state-of-the-art technology that a patient would receive in a Sentara facility into area communities. 3D mammography is the current standard of care for breast cancer screenings and has been proven to find smaller tumors at earlier stages than traditional 2D mammograms. The mobile unit is designed for comfort, with private dressing rooms, central air/heating, and a platform step for safer entry.
“We know that detecting breast cancer early, before it has spread, saves lives,” said Melissa Botelho, manager of radiology at Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center. “By coming into the community or directly to a workplace, the mobile mammography van will bring screening services to those who might not otherwise get this necessary care.”
“The mobile mammography team is committed to organizing as many screening events as possible to underserved areas and businesses in Northern Virginia throughout the year,” added Botelho.
Mammograms will be available to all individuals. If a patient has health insurance, that information will be gathered in advance over the phone and on-site, and if a patient is uninsured or underinsured, they can complete an application to qualify for financial assistance. Lack of insurance will not be a barrier to receiving care.
Up to 20 mammography appointments can be scheduled in a single day. The mammography van is available for events Monday through Friday. Sentara will also focus on partnering with community organizations and local businesses to provide convenient screenings for employees. In the past, the 3D Mammography Van has gone to local businesses in Northern Virginia that have included Microsoft, Raytheon, and GEICO.
In 2022, Sentara Healthcare provided nearly 17,000 mammograms and more than 2,800 community members participated in cancer screenings through prevention and early detection events held across Virginia and North Carolina. To learn more about Sentara’s mobile mammography services, click here.
Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center is rolling out a new policy that requires visitors to show a government-issued ID and have their photo taken when they visit the hospital in Woodbridge.
The new Visitor Badging System (VBS) is now in effect for all visitors entering the hospital at 2300 Opitz Boulevard.
Sentara provides medical services to those in eastern Prince William, northern Stafford, and southern Fairfax counties.
More in a press release from the medical center.
Visitors will be asked to:
• Show a photo ID at reception, such as a driver license, state-issued ID, or military ID.
• Tell receptionists at the visitor badging station their destination.
• Have a photo taken for a visitor badge, to be worn visibly at all times.Additionally, all individuals must lock firearms, knives, and other weapons in their vehicles before entering the hospital.
Sentara hospitals are seeking the balance between being welcoming and being safe. Visitor badging has been shown to reduce violence against staff and limits opportunities for theft of personal items from patients or employees.
The VBS expands a long-standing badge protocol in Family Maternity Centers, which helps ensure that everyone entering those secure units is appropriate. The broader goal is to have every person in Sentara hospitals wear a badge, including employees and providers, vendors, outpatients, and visitors.
Health care workers suffer 73 percent of all workplace violence, mostly from patients and visitors. The Visitor Badging System encourages respectful interaction between visitors with staff. Sentara leaders believe that most visitors will welcome VBS to help them enjoy a safer experience.
The first Sentara Commitment to our patients is to ‘Always keep you safe.’ This includes quality care and a safe healing environment. Visitor badging is one tool to help us keep that promise.
Sentara Healthcare is rolling out the new VBS at its 12 hospitals in Virginia and North Carolina.
Sentara will no longer force most employees, patients, and visitors to wear facemasks.
The healthcare provider says the coronavirus and flu cases are falling after a spike during Fall 2022. Starting today, March 21, 2023, only those who think they have the coronavirus or flu or those treating coronavirus and flu patients should continue to wear a mask.
Sentara operates the largest medical facility in eastern Prince William County, Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center in Woodbridge. The medical provider also operates a series of health clinics throughout the region.
More in a press release:
The Sentara COVID-19 Task Force has closely monitored COVID-19 activity for the past three years across our communities, using scientific data and the highest safety standards to guide our decisions throughout the pandemic.
Currently, health systems across the country are seeing a steady decrease in COVID-19, RSV, and flu patients – the three respiratory viruses that triggered a surge in emergency department visits and hospitalizations last fall.
After much consideration, we believe it is safe and appropriate to relax masking requirements across our healthcare facilities.
Effective tomorrow March 21, 2023, patients, visitors, and team members will no longer be required to wear a mask at all times within our healthcare facilities. Exceptions include:
- Patients who are seeking treatment for a viral illness such as COVID-19 or the flu should continue to wear a mask to prevent spreading the virus to others.
- Healthcare workers treating patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 must still wear the appropriate level of personal protective equipment (PPE) required.
All healthcare professionals will continue to follow infection prevention protocols. Health systems will continue to monitor respiratory illness activity within our communities.
While we continue to evolve our COVID-19 policies, our priority remains the safety of our team members, patients, and community. Masks will continue to be an important tool, along with vaccinations, to keep people healthy and safe. Masks will still be available to patients and visitors who enter our facilities. Additionally, our healthcare colleagues can still wear a mask if they choose to do so.
We are grateful to our healthcare colleagues, patients, and visitors for their cooperation in following important public health measures during the pandemic to protect one another.
A convenient, new outpatient imaging center is now open in Woodbridge. Sentara Advanced Imaging Center is now open in the Century Medical Building on the campus of Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center.
If you’re coming to Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center for outpatient imaging, you will now come to Sentara Advanced Imaging Center in the Century Building.
This is the first building on your right as you enter the main campus of the hospital from Opitz Boulevard at 2280 Opitz Boulevard in Suite 100.
This new advanced imaging site offers 3D Mammography, Ultrasound, Bone Density Scans, CT Scans, PET CT Scans and walk-in X-Ray.
Sentara Advanced Imaging Center is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Complimentary valet parking is available for your convenience. To schedule an appointment, call 703-523-1560.
Fredericksburg-area residents have a new healthcare option after opening a new emergency room on Route 3.
Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center opened its Fredericksburg ER at 5005 Plank Road in Spotsylvania. The Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting on February 23.
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Mary Washington Healthcare's 15th Annual Virginia Heart & Vascular Institute Symposium occurred on Saturday, February 3, 2023, at the Fredericksburg Expo Center.
Over 200 primary care and internal medicine physicians, advanced practice providers, nurses, and other medical professionals from the greater Fredericksburg region gathered for an educational symposium learning about the latest research and treatments for cardiovascular disease.
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The Neurosurgery team at Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center is using the latest treatments and technologies to provide a high level of care close to home.
Curve™ Image-Guided Surgery is being used for advanced neurosurgery procedures. Curve™, by BrainLab, provides surgeons with better guidance and control during surgery to enable less invasive, more precise and safer procedures, giving patients better outcomes and a faster recovery.
“Spinal navigation is primarily offered at large hospitals, which limits patient access,” says Dr. John P. Lynes. “Having this technology locally allows us to provide our patients with a higher level of care closer to home. With better visualization of the surgical site, incisions can be minimized, critical structures, such as blood vessels and nerves, are better protected, and overall outcomes improve.”
Curve™ Image-Guided Surgery displays 3D images of the patient’s anatomy based on CT, MRI, and other types of scans. Utilizing touch-screen monitors and two infrared cameras, surgeons are able to track the patient’s exact position on the operating table relative to the surgeon’s instruments.
“Like a GPS for the spine, this technology lets us [surgeons] know exactly where we are at all times. It’s an incredibly powerful ‘surgical sixth sense,’ allowing us to reliably place and double check screws during procedures, such as lumbar fusions. This precise tracking helps us keep the patient safer and makes surgery more efficient,” says Dr. David A. Weiner.
“There are many ways we work to improve the health of our community,” says Julie Billingsley, Director, Patient Care Services, Orthopedics & Neurosciences at Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center. “That’s why we continue to add new, advanced technologies that help our surgeons offer less invasive, better coordinated and safer care.”
To learn more go to sentara.com/medicalservices/services/neurosciences/neurosurgery
The cat was under confinement with Stafford Animal Control when it became aggressive. There were confirmed human exposures through bites or scratches from the cat. These individuals were advised to obtain rabies post-exposure preventive treatment from the local hospital Emergency Department to prevent the development of human rabies.
The Health Department is notifying the public in case any people or pets may have had contact with this cat. Any individuals exposed/potentially exposed to this cat should seek medical advice promptly from their healthcare provider to evaluate whether rabies prevention medication is needed. Individuals may also contact the Stafford County Environmental Health Office at 540-288-9018.
