Centra Health

Centra was one of the 17 health systems recently recognized by Becker's Healthcare for auditing and removing invasive mental health questions from physician credentialing applications. "When health workers are deciding in which state or organization to work, the Wellbeing First Champion Badge can be used to show that a location will not require health workers to answer intrusive mental health questions," the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation said on its website. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/e6BV4_dS

Join us for the Lynchburg kickoff 'Walk with a Doc' event this Saturday, July 13, from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. at the Awareness Garden on the Blackwater Creek Trail’s Ed Page Entrance! Dr. Kevin Brenzy, Executive Director of Centra’s Brain & Spine services, will be there to discuss the importance of brain and spine health for our community. After the health talk, enjoy gentle stretching and yoga, followed by a short, self-paced walk. It’s a fantastic opportunity to ask questions, socialize, and connect in a relaxed setting. Light refreshments will be provided, too! This event is part of Walk with a Doc, an international non-profit organization bringing together local healthcare providers and community members for physical activity, health education, social connections, and time in nature. Don’t miss out on this fun and free event! See you there! Learn more and RSVP: https://lnkd.in/eeTZPkNW

RAIN OR SHINE - Virginia Baptist Hospital Centennial Celebration ☔ ☀ We hope you’ll join us for the Virginia Baptist Hospital Centennial celebration on Friday, July 12th, on the front lawn of VBH! This event is happening rain or shine!  The ceremony will begin promptly at 11 a.m., so please plan to arrive prior to the start time. There will be signs for parking on the campus, and parking shuttles to/from the front lawn will run throughout the event. Bus stop 1 will be located in the lower lot across from the parking garage, and bus stop 2 will be located at the front of VBH Circle. Tents will be set up to provide shelter at the ceremony site, but please plan to bring an umbrella.  Following the ceremony, the VBH Museum, “Reflections on Healing," will be open to tour and refreshments will be provided! 

WELCOME WEDNESDAY! We want to extend a warm welcome to our NEW Centra Residents! Please welcome: Aleshba Yousuf, MD - Primary Care Huy Tran, MD - Primary Care  Izza Ahmed, MBBS - Primary Care  Logan Haley, DO - Primary Care Lubna Alhalabi, MD - Primary Care Pramanu Aryal, MBBS - Primary Care Shandesh Khanal, MBBS - Primary Care Tunde Olaogun, MD - Primary Care Zafar Khan, MD - Primary Care Each resident physician has graduated from a four-year college and medical school. As medical school graduates, our residents are doctors, not medical students, who are with us for advanced training.  Resident training takes place in many settings, from the hospital to medical offices, nursing facilities, homes and includes experiences in: • Family medicine  • Women’s health • Children’s health • Adult health (including geriatrics) • Surgery • Emergency care Please join us in welcoming our new residents!

Centra’s Heart & Vascular Institute (HVI) PA Fellowship was recently recognized as the first accredited General Cardiology PA Fellowship in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States! The fellowship’s accreditation was given by the ARC-PA (Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant), the most rigorous accrediting body in PA medicine. We would like to extend special congratulations to HVI’s PA Fellowship Program Founder and Program Director, Lori McVay, DMSc, PA-C, for this achievement. She devoted over 2,000 hours of administrative time towards the accreditation process. Additionally, we would like to thank our core and ancillary faculty, HVI administration and HVI administrative support, preceptors, alumni and all physicians and APPs who have collaborated with the PA Fellowship Program in order to make it a success! ARC-PA

Join us for the next Lunchtime Learning Series on Thursday, July 11th, at 12:30 p.m. Dr. Bikram Bal from Centra Medical Group's Southside Gastrointestinal Center will discuss colonoscopy screening guidelines and alternate colon cancer screening methods. Attending the session will earn you one hour of CME credit.  Dr. Bal is a gastroenterologist at Centra Southside Hospital in Farmville, Virginia. Dr. Bal completed his medical school training at Christian Medical College in India. Subsequently, he did a postdoctoral fellowship in immunology at the Yale School of Medicine. He completed his Internal medicine and Gastrointestinal training at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. He has been practicing at Centra Southside Community Hospital for 12 years. Dr. Bal offers a full range of gastroenterology services, including care for treating Hepatitis C, advanced liver disease, and moderate to severe inflammatory bowel disease. He performs upper endoscopies, colonoscopies, video capsule endoscopies, ERCP, pH monitoring studies, esophageal manometry, and percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy. In addition to working as a gastroenterologist, Dr. Bal serves as the Centra Medical Group's Chief Medical Officer and is a member of the Centra Southside Hospital Board. In support of improving patient care, Centra is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurse Credentialing Center (ANCC) to provide continuing education for the healthcare team. REGISTER HERE: https://lnkd.in/ecN7urKE

Centra Medical Group (CMG) is launching the health system's first clinical advancement program for CMG Advanced Practice Providers (APP) – LEAPP (Leadership, Excellence, Advocacy, Professional Growth, and Professionalism). This program is a two-tier self-directed pathway that allows our providers to choose how they wish to advance along the path. The goal of LEAPP is to provide APP’s within the medical group with a structured pathway for advancement - while allowing them to focus on their interest with an associated financial incentive for completing the program. This is an exciting step for our medical group and our Advanced Practice Providers, and we look forward to sharing more with you. ⭐

Exciting news from Centra’s Heart & Vascular Institute! Dr. Matthew Sackett and his team have successfully implanted Virginia’s first patient with the Integra D device as part of a groundbreaking clinical trial.

NEW PODCAST EPISODE!   We had the pleasure of speaking with Tab Culbertson, the president of Lynchburg General and Virginia Baptist Hospital (VBH) about VBH's historic firsts as we celebrate our centennial year.   Listen in for some rich history!

Did you know that Virginia Baptist Hospital (VBH) has a museum that features displays about its history including its college of nursing and pioneering work related to neonatal care? Recently, additional exhibits and features have been added to the museum, which will be revealed during VBH's Centennial Celebration on July 12! The new exhibits will feature new facts and individuals from VBH’s extensive history, one individual being Stanhope Johnson, who was the principal architect for Virginia Baptist Hospital. Johnson, who was a native of Lynchburg, has had over 700 building projects attributed to him with over half located in Lynchburg. However, his work was not limited to central Virginia–his projects covered a multi-state area that included much of the east coast and stretched as far as Texas. With a career that spanned over 65 years, Johnson was known for utilizing Georgian Revival style, characterized by symmetry, porches, latticed windows and classical detail elements that were popular in the early 20th century. The architect resided near VBH in a home on Link Road that was named Brookside. To learn more about Johnson and other individuals who have helped shape Virginia Baptist Hospital into the landmark of hope and healing that it is today, be sure to visit the museum when it re-opens on July 12!