The George Mason University Patriots women’s basketball team secured a hard-fought 76-66 victory over the University of Massachusetts during the annual #Play4Kay Pink Game at EagleBank Arena on Sunday, February 16. The event, sponsored for the sixth consecutive year by Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center (SNVMC), brought together fans, survivors, and medical professionals to raise awareness of women’s cancers and honor those affected by breast cancer.
A Victory Beyond the Scoreboard
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In this Potomac Local News Podcast episode, we sit down with Jeff Joyner, President of Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center, to explore the hospital’s incredible 50+ year journey – the past 15 years of which have been under Sentara’s watch.
Learn how this community-built hospital has evolved with transformative investments, including freestanding emergency rooms, a cardiovascular surgery center, and cutting-edge AI technology.
From its roots as Potomac Hospital to its role today as a leader in local healthcare, Sentara continues to innovate while staying true to its mission of serving the community. Whether you’re curious about the future of healthcare or want to hear how the hospital has remained a vital part of Northern Virginia, this is an episode you don’t want to miss!
Topics Covered:
- Sentara’s deep community ties and history
- The hospital’s recent investments and expansions
- How AI and technology are transforming healthcare
- Exciting plans for the future
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Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center (SNVMC) has announced the launch of the Pritikin Intensive Cardiac Rehab program, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at supporting patients in making full and lasting recoveries following cardiac events. The program is rooted in three essential components—exercise, nutrition, and maintaining a healthy mindset—empowering patients to make informed choices that foster long-term health and well-being.
Designed to be both effective and sustainable, the Pritikin program incorporates a balanced diet that includes lean meats and fish as protein options, encouraging patients to explore flavorful, heart-healthy meals. Clinical dieticians guide participants in using spice blends and creative culinary techniques to make healthy eating enjoyable, ensuring adherence to the program’s principles.
The Pritikin program is tailored to aid recovery from a variety of cardiac events, including heart attacks, coronary artery bypass surgery, stenting or angioplasty, chest pain caused by angina, heart valve repair or replacement, heart or heart/lung transplants, and chronic heart failure. Its comprehensive approach equips patients with the tools and knowledge they need to maintain healthy habits and manage stress effectively.
Jeff Joyner, president of SNVMC, emphasized the program’s accessibility and its potential to create lasting impacts on patients’ lives. “The Sentara Heart & Vascular Center is pleased to offer the unique, non-invasive Pritikin program to patients in the community,” Joyner said. “It gives people the knowledge and tools to make good decisions around diet, exercise, and managing stress. The program is user-friendly, so patients are more likely to stay with it as a healthy lifestyle.”
Press Release:
Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center (SNVMC) recently achieved accreditation from SRC – Surgical Review Corporation – as a Center of Excellence in Minimally Invasive Gynecology and Robotic Surgery. This accreditation recognizes SNVMC’s commitment and high standard of delivery of quality patient care and safety.
Status as an accredited Center of Excellence means that SNVMC has met nationally and internationally recognized standards. Not all hospitals and surgeons seek accreditation; not all that undergo the rigorous inspection process are granted accreditation.
SNVMC is the first Sentara hospital to have earned this accreditation.
“It’s important that the people in our community know of our dedication and commitment to providing the highest level of surgical services in Northern Virginia,” said SNVMC President Jeff Joyner. “Earning accreditation as a Center of Excellence by SRC is a reflection of the commitment to excellence across our hospital and the entire surgical team.”
Health care facilities and surgeons seeking an SRC accreditation undergo an extensive assessment and inspection process to ensure the applicant meets SRC’s proven standards and requirements. These requirements include surgical volumes, facility equipment, clinical pathways and standardized operating procedures, an emphasis on patient education and continuous quality assessment. Inspectors educate staff in the accredited departments on best practices to help an organization improve its care and services.
“We’re proud to recognize Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center for its commitment to advancing and providing quality care for all patients,” said Gary M. Pratt, CEO of SRC. “This accreditation signals that this facility is among the best in this specialty and is dedicated to delivering the highest level of care possible.”
Benefits of Robotic Surgery
SNVMC benefits from having the state-of-the-art da Vinci® robotic surgical system in use. This is a multi-armed precision tool that is used to perform gynecological and general surgery cases The device’s precision tools and a tiny lighted high-resolution camera are inserted through inch-long incisions, which contributes to quicker recovery for patients with less post-surgical pain.
The surgeon operates the system from a console near the operating table, looking through a viewer that magnifies the surgical site to ten times what the human eye can see.
In a Sentara Health Bites informational video, “Benefits of the daVinci® Robot in Gynecologic Surgery,” gynecology surgeon Alf K. Adler explains, “The term robotic surgery is very misleading to people. It’s not the robot doing the surgery. The surgeon is in control of the system. Many of our patients are able to go back to their homes the same day.”
Dr. Adler outlines other benefits to robotic surgery:
- Incisions are smaller with less scaring [sic]
- Bleeding is less
- Pain is significantly less
- Incidence of infection and other complications are much lower
- Recovery is phenomenally quicker
From minimally invasive surgical procedures to highly complex in-patient surgeries, Sentara’s board-certified surgeons provide a full range of procedures. To learn more, visit www.Sentara.com/surgery.
