The local vaccine rollout process continues. About a month after the first coronavirus vaccines were shipped to hospitals across the country, Charlottesville’s frontline health care employees who work outside of hospitals are now getting vaccinated. On Monday, the Blue Ridge Health District (formerly known as the Thomas Jefferson Health District) began offering the first dose […]
Sentara Martha Jefferson
A shot in the arm: Vaccine distribution begins for local hospital workers
Last Tuesday, UVA hospital’s ICU director Taison Bell became one of the first people in Charlottesville to receive the newly approved coronavirus vaccine. It was a moment of “mixed emotions,” says Bell, who has worked with COVID patients throughout the crisis. “It was definitely a good feeling to finally have something that can potentially protect […]
Ground zero: Local hospitals, health department prepare for coronavirus spike
In just a matter of days, the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the Thomas Jefferson Health District has jumped from one to 16, including four in the City of Charlottesville and six in Albemarle County. While the first case was initially thought to be travel-related, it’s now unclear how the individual, […]
“We all have a role to play”: More and more businesses take steps to go green
More and more local businesses and nonprofits are looking for ways to operate sustainably. While not everyone is familiar with the “triple bottom line” approach (gauging success by three rubrics: economic, environmental, and societal), most do see efforts to go green as beneficial beyond saving [...]
Bad lights: Glaring illumination mars night sky
On a night with a full moon, Rick Barnett can see pretty clearly outside his Belmont house. The problem is, he can also see clearly on moonless nights—thanks to an array of lighting, mostly commercial, blazing up into the sky behind his house. On a recent drive around the neighborhood, he [...]
Secret services: Why is it so hard to find out what your doctor’s visit will cost?
When you buy a house or a car, you know how much it’s going to cost. That’s not necessarily the case when you go see a doctor, especially if you don’t have insurance, a local woman discovered on recent visits to a UVA clinic. Sara Ensey is a self-pay patient, and when she went to […]
Morbidity rates: Optima’s health insurance premium calculations challenged
In November, Sara Stovall was grappling with a health insurance premium that had skyrocketed from $940 a month to $3,000 for her family of four in the Charlottesville market, which found itself with the highest rates in the country. Now Stovall says she has a better idea of why this [...]