Recent Initiatives | 2009 | 2008

Intern Class Sponsors Family for Christmas

December 2007 . . . In keeping with the spirit of holiday giving, the pediatric interns sponsored a family for the Christmas holiday. Working with Greg Nelsen, pediatric social worker, they identified a family with four children in particular need of help this year. On December 15, they organized a big shopping and wrapping trip after a quick lunch at Bodo's. The group used the family's list for ideas for the children and also purchased a gift for the mother for the holidays.

Lynchburg School Children Hold Diaper Drive

School children at Linkhorne Elementary School in Lynchburg held a diaper drive to benefit the UVA Diaper Duty Program. Mr. Jason Mack, principal, organized the event and rallied his students to collect diapers, wipes, and rectal thermometers to be distributed to families in need, and to load the supplies for the trip to Charlottesville! Thank you to Mr. Mack and all the students, and to Blue Ridge Care Connection for Children for transporting everything to our Charlottesville diaper closet!

Greg Nelsen Named UVA "Community Builder 2007"

Greg Nelsen, pediatric social worker at the Primary Care Center, was named "UVA Community Builder 2007" in recognition of his outstanding community outreach. Greg will be honored at a Rotunda dinner and award presentation later this month. Greg is an exceptional child advocate and community leader. He worked with other community leaders to plan and implement the Community Children's Dental Clinic for children on Medicaid. He also supports the intern "Diaper Duty" project and is one of the founding members of the UVA Child Health Advocacy Program. Congratulations to Greg and thanks for all that he does!

"Diaper Duty" Intern Project is Sam's "Business Partner of the Month"

The "Diaper Duty" intern advocacy project was chosen by the Charlottesville Sam's Club as their business partner of the month for October. Sam's has worked with the Diaper Duty project to facilitate the purchase of diapers for distribution to eligble families who receive their primary care at the pediatric residents clinic. Efforts are ongoing to keep the closet stocked with diapers so that we can continue to help families in need.

Pediatric Residents Wear Blue for SCHIP

Pediatric residents across the country wore blue ribbons and held rallies in support of the SCHIP program during the week of October 1st. This unified show of support was organized by Dr. Lisa Chamberlain of Stanford University. Ribbons were distributed by Dr. Katie Eisenhuth to UVA faculty and residents at morning report so that all could show support for this important program for children's health.

Resident Advocate Teams up With Obesity Task Force

Dr. Amber Pendleton, a second year resident, has been teaming up with the Charlottesville Obesity Task Force to determine ways to combat the growing obesity epidemic. A pilot program was implemented this fall called Family Champions for Health and Fitness. Pre-adolescents and their families attended a 4-day intervention program that provided fun, interactive ways to learn about healthy eating and activities.

The First Annual Family Health and Fitness Camp at Camp Holiday Trails was a huge success! Five families participated in a fun-filled, hands-on, multidisciplinary approach to teaching families how to make healthy lifestyle choices. Six Pediatrics residents, as well as Family Medicine and Internal Medicine residents were involved in medical assessments, survey data collection, and family mentorship. During post-camp weekly follow-up meetings, families have given us remarkably positive feedback that this program has been life-changing. Thus far, the program has received funding from the UVA Children's Fitness Clinic and an AAP Resident CATCH grant.

This has become an annual event and plans are underway for the third Family Fitness Camp to be held this fall at Camp Holiday Trails.

UVA Reach Out and Read Program Participates in Book Fair

The 2nd Annual WVPT Book Festival was held on Saturday September 15, 2007 and the UVA Reach Out and Read Program was there to share information and a love of reading with children and their families from throughout central Virginia. Children received a book and participated in a variety of literacy activities at the book fair. Dr. Linda Waggoner-Fountain and Linda Drake, along with many pediatric residents, were on hand to help the children make books to take home with them. The book fair was once again very successful and spread the word about how important reading is to the success and well-being of children.

Dr. Amy Cool Becomes "Smoke-Free Champion"

Dr. Amy Cool became a "smoke-free champion" after she attended a July training for pediatricians entitled "Dissemination of Best Practices to Promote Smoke Free Homes." She met with pediatricians from across the country and participated in workshops and lectures given by tobacco cntrol experts from the American Academy of Pediatrics. All attendess of the conference were designated to be "Smoke Free Champions" after their training in counseling parents in smoking cessation techniques. Participants also learned about resources available in the Commonwealth of Virginia to our patients and their parents, such as the free quitline at 1-800-QUIT-NOW.

Prenatal Visit Program at the Primary Care Center

The UVA PCC Pediatric Clinic has started a group pediatric prenatal visit program for expectant mothers who receive their ob-gyn care at the UVA PCC and plan to bring their infants to the PCC for pediatric care. Our goal is to reach an underserved population to discuss vital topics like breastfeeding, smoking, and basic infant care. We hold these one-time visits on the third Friday of each month at 12 PM on the 3rd floor of the PCC. We have a translator available for Spanish-speaking women and our pediatric social worker and insurance coordinators are available as well. We provide mothers with a healthy lunch and a copy of the AAP's Your Baby's First Year. Resident involvement in the program has been wonderful and we are excited about the expectant mothers we are reaching. We have received funding from UVA and from an AAP CATCH grant to develop and implement this important program.

Child Health Advocacy Program: A Medical-Legal Partnership

The Child Health Advocacy Program is a unique medical-legal collaborative program between the University of Virginia Children's Hospital, the University of Virginia School of Law, and the Legal Aid Justice Center that helps families access legal services through the Legal Aid Justice Center. Volunteers from Legal Aid can help our families with a variety of problems related to benefits, housing, employment, family, school, and consumer issues. This program has just been awarded $125,000 from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund to hire a full-time staff attorney to work on-site at the UVA Children's Hospital to increase family access to this important program. The program attorney will also train medical staff about legal issues that affect family health. Plans are also underway to develop a statewide network of programs throughout Virginia, including Richmond and Lynchburg. Since starting in 2004, our program has grown steadily and will help 200 families this year. Learn more about our Child Health Advocacy Program and what is available to our patients and our health care providers.

Dental Initiative

At Pediatrics at Orange, we provide basic oral health assessment and education at our well child visits, and preventive treatment (fluoride varnish application for high risk children) for all children seen from age 6 months to 3 years. This project began one day in clinic when Dr. Liz McGowan asked why our young patients do not receive dental care until there is extensive decay present. As a result, Dr. McGowan became a member of the Charlottesville Albemarle Dental Access Task Force and worked with local dentists to obtain toothbrushes to be given out to our patients at their well child visits. Collaboration with the Virginia Department of Health has provided additional toothbrushes and toothpaste. See the  Virginia Bright Smiles Program for more information on the Virginia fluoride varnish program.

Reach Out and Read

The Reach Out and Read Program is a wonderful literacy program which provides our patients with a new book at each of their well-child visits from age 4 months to age 5 years. Along with the prescription for a new book, families are encouraged to read aloud to their children. For more on the national program, see Reach Out and Read.

Intern Advocacy Project - "Diaper Duty"

The Pediatric Intern Class has developed a "Diaper Duty" program, in which diapers are provided to working families who meet eligibility requirements for this assistance. Our pediatric clinic provides care for some of Virginia's poorest families, and there is no support available that will cover the purchase of diapers for these families. The cost of diapering an infant for a year is about $500 in the Charlottesville area. Infants without an adequate supply of diapers are prone to recurrent diaper rashes and yeast infections.

The project has received generous support from local businesses and motorcycle enthusiasts as part of the 1st annual Toy Rally in the Valley held at the Kluge Children's Rehabilitation Center.