Pre-K Dabney Students Complete Mi Centro Program
Vance County Schools
For Immediate Release
July 20, 2017
Pre-kindergarten students who participated in the Mi Centro program this summer at Dabney Elementary School completed their participation in the camp on July 19.
A total of 35 Hispanic students completed the summer program this year and are now ready to begin the new school year.
The students participated in sessions to prepare them for the new school year in three classes that were taught by Deris Mora, Kelly Smith and Tamekia Thompson, all teachers in Vance County Schools. They were assisted by Sherry Compton, Lesli Miranda, Kathy Pernell, Malinda Puckett, Janet Rodriguez and Connetta Terry. One student volunteer, Reina Banda-Orozco, also helped in the classes.
The Mi Centro program is coordinated through the school system’s English as a Second Language (ESL) Program and is designed to provide educational services to pre-school Hispanic children to help them prepare to begin the school year.
Each of the students was recognized during a “graduation” ceremony held in the multipurpose room at Dabney Elementary on the morning of July 19. Their teachers presented them with certificates for their participation in the program. Each student wore a light blue cap and gown and came up to accept their certificate from their teacher.
Middle school students explore the world at VGCC Science Camp
— courtesy VGCC
Enjoying what the head of the Vance-Granville Community College Science Department joked was a “well-rounded” experience, area middle school students traveled “around the world” at the college’s seventh annual Science Camp in June.
“The campers enjoyed activities focused on biology, geology, chemistry, physics, medical science and applied science,” according to VGCC Science Department Chair Steve McGrady. “These sessions were interspersed with games about Earth’s continents and oceans.”
Science Camp participants, from left, Tara Journigan of Henderson, Janea Camacho of Oxford and Ethan Hann of Oxford, with VGCC Science Department Chair Steve McGrady, conduct an experiment using red cabbage during a session on chemistry. (VGCC photo)
A total of 35 students, including rising sixth, seventh and eighth graders from Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren counties, completed the day camp. The theme on the first day was the Americas; the second, Australia; the third, Eurasia; the fourth, Africa; and the fifth, Antarctica.
The week was full of fun, hands-on activities designed to pique campers’ curiosity as they consider their future educational and career aspirations. Sessions were taught by VGCC instructors, including many from departments outside the natural sciences, from Electronics Engineering Technology to Pharmacy Technology. McGrady expressed his appreciation to the many faculty and staff members from across all of the college’s academic divisions, who volunteered their time and talents to make the camp a success.
Science Camp participant Amarii Blair of Henderson (in foreground) flies a kite in the courtyard on VGCC’s Main Campus, during a session in which campers learned about aerodynamics as they created and tested their own kites. (VGCC photo)
Four volunteer counselors helped facilitate the camp, all of them recent graduates of the College Transfer program at VGCC: Elizabeth Cole of Kittrell; Francis Scotland and Alana Towles, both of Oxford; and Micah Roberts of Stem.
Several students who attended the camp in previous years also served as “counselors in training”: Roberto Chaves-Smith and Emani’ Foster, both of Henderson Collegiate; Michael Hall and Ryan Hall, both of Falls Lake Academy; Yumyah Hargrove, an incoming Vance County Early College High School student; Jadyn Myrick of Granville Central High School; and Luke Woltz of Oxford Prep.
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Maria Parham Health Named 2017 Most Wired
Maria Parham Health has been named a Most Wired Hospital for the fourth year in a row. Technology is making it easier for patients and providers to interact, thus improving communication, safety and patient-provider relationships. New tools are helping patients become more actively involved in their care and maintaining their health, according to results of the 19th Annual Health Care’s Most Wired® survey, released today by the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) Health Forum.
According to the survey, Most Wired hospitals are using smart phones, telehealth and remote monitoring to create more ways for patients to access health care services and capture health information. This year’s results show:
- 76 percent offer secure messaging with clinicians on mobile devices.
- When patients need ongoing monitoring at home, 74 percent use secure e-mails for patients and families to keep in touch with the care team.
- 68 percent simplify prescription renewals by letting patients make requests on mobile devices.
- 62 percent add data reported by patients to the electronic health record to get a better picture of what is going on with the patient.
- Nearly half of the hospitals are using telehealth to provide behavioral health services to more patients.
- 40 percent offer virtual physician visits.
- More than 40 percent provide real-time care management services to patients at home for diabetes and congestive heart failure.
“We have had an aggressive IT strategy in place for several years now with the goal of improving the overall quality and coordination of patient care,” said Randy Williams, director of IT at MPH. “Technology is a rapidly changing environment but vital to providing quality care to our patients. We have been able to advance our technology goals and the benefits have been felt throughout the hospital and community. Physicians and clinical staff have greater access to patient health information; hospital support roles have been made more efficient and effective; and patients now have greater access to their health records, including billing information, discharge instructions, and future needs.
“The Most Wired hospitals are using every available technology option to create more ways to reach their patients in order to provide access to care,” said AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack. “They are transforming care delivery, investing in new delivery models in order to improve quality, provide access and control costs.”
Innovation in patient care embraces emerging technologies and underscores the need for secure patient information exchange. Hospitals have increased their use of sophisticated IT monitoring systems to detect patient privacy breaches, monitor for malicious activities or policy violations and produce real-time analysis of security alerts.
- 97 percent use intrusion detection systems.
- 96 percent perform data access audits.
- Nearly 90 percent run targeted phishing exercises.
Most Wired hospitals are transforming care delivery with knowledge gained from data and analytics. They are investing in analytics to support new delivery models and effective decision-making and training clinicians on how to use analytics to improve quality, provide access and control costs.
- 82 percent analyze retrospective clinical and administrative data to identify areas for improving quality and reducing the cost of care.
- Three-quarters use sophisticated analytics such as predictive modeling and data to improve decision-making.
- Nearly 70 percent interface electronic health record data with population health tools for care management.
- More than 70 percent are providing data analytic tools training to physicians and nurses.
- 45 percent initiate a patient pathway using health IT to follow a care plan.
- Nearly 40 percent deliver quality metrics to physicians at the point-of-care.
- 32 percent have tools for real-time patient identification and tracking for value-based care conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
HealthCare’s Most Wired® survey, conducted between Jan. 15 and March 15, 2017, is published annually by Hospitals & Health Networks (H&HN). The 2017 Most Wired® survey and benchmarking study is a leading industry barometer measuring information technology (IT) use and adoption among hospitals nationwide. The survey of 698 participants, representing an estimated 2,158 hospitals — more than 39 percent of all hospitals in the U.S. — examines how organizations are leveraging IT to improve performance for value-based health care in the areas of infrastructure, business and administrative management; quality and safety; and clinical integration.
Detailed results of the survey and study can be found in the July issue of H&HN. For a full list of winners, visit www.hhnmag.com.
About the Most Wired Survey
The 2017 Most Wired Survey is conducted in cooperation with the American Hospital Association and Clearwater Compliance, LLC.
About the American Hospital Association
The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the improvement of health in their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which include nearly 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks and other providers of care. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. For more information, visit www.aha.org.
About Health Forum
Health Forum is a strategic business enterprise of the American Hospital Association, creatively partnering to develop and deliver essential information and innovative services to help health care leaders achieve organizational performance excellence and sustainability. For more information, visit www.healthforum.com.
About Clearwater Compliance, LLC | https://clearwatercompliance.com/
Clearwater Compliance, LLC is a leading provider of healthcare compliance and cyber risk management solutions. Its mission is to empower hospitals and health systems to successfully manage healthcare’s evolving cybersecurity risks and ensure patient safety. Exclusively endorsed by the American Hospital Association, Clearwater solutions have been deployed within hundreds of hospitals and health systems, Fortune 100 organizations and federal government institutions. More information about Clearwater Compliance is at https://www.Clearwatercompliance.com.
VGCC Completes Renovation of Histotechnology Lab
A laboratory has been renovated to house the new Histotechnology program on Vance-Granville Community College’s Main Campus, the VGCC Board of Trustees was informed at its Monday, July 17, bi-monthly meeting.
The renovation, which cost $15,230, was part of a project covering miscellaneous repairs and renovations on the college campus between Henderson and Oxford, according to Trustee Donald C. Seifert, Sr., chair of the board’s Building Committee.
The Bioprocess Technology laboratory that was previously located in Building 8 was retrofitted to house the health sciences curriculum program. The Bioprocess program has moved to the Franklin County Campus.
The Histotechnology program prepares students for the medical laboratory field. The two-year associate’s degree Histotechnology program provides students the knowledge and skills necessary to prepare tissue specimens for microscopic examination using various stains and dyes to identify tissue and cell structures in medical laboratories. Course work covers scientific concepts related to laboratory testing, microscopy and quality assurance. Graduates may be eligible to apply to take the American Society for Clinical Pathology Board of Certification national examination.
In other Building Committee updates, Seifert said roofing replacement is progressing on Building 6 on the Main Campus, and repairs and the resealing of the parking lots at South Campus are expected to be complete by the end of July.
Board Officers
Trustee Danny W. Wright of Henderson was re-elected as the chair of the board, Trustee Herb Gregory of Oxford was re-elected as vice-chair, and Trustee Deborah F. Brown of Henderson was re-elected as secretary after nominations from a committee chaired by Trustee L. Opie Frazier, Jr.
North Carolina Ninth District Court Judge Henry Banks, who is working part-time after his recent retirement, swore in Trustee Brown for a third four-year term on the board. Brown was appointed by the Vance County Board of Commissioners. She first joined the Board of Trustees in 2009 and will serve though 2021.
Moment of Silence
At the start of the meeting, Trustee Chair Wright acknowledged the recent death of Trustee Emeritus John King Nelms of Oxford. Nelms, who died at the age of 95 on June 22, served on the Board of Trustees in an advisory capacity from 1971 to 1973 and as an active member from 1973 until 2005. He served as chair in 1983-84 and from 1999 to 2003. He was named VGCC’s first — and to date, only —Trustee Emeritus upon his retirement.
“He just loved this college and did so much for it,” said Wright before leading the board in a Moment of Silence.
Nelms, who served for three decades as director of the Granville County Economic Development Commission, was instrumental in getting Granville involved in supporting what was originally Vance County Technical Institute, leading eventually to VGCC’s main campus near the Vance-Granville county line.
Budget Amendments
Upon recommendation from the Budget Committee, chaired by Trustee Abdul Rasheed, the 2016-2017 Budget Resolution was amended. The State Current Fund increased $1,915,633 to $22,460,933, the County Current Fund was unchanged at $2,515,573, and the Institutional Fund increased $436,178 to $11,202,582, for a combined Amended Operating Budget of $36,179,088. The Capital Improvement Budget was unchanged at $746,068. The total Combined Amended Budget is $36,925,156.
Fall Semester
In her report to the board, VGCC President Dr. Stelfanie Williams informed the Trustees that the new Fall Semester starts Monday, Aug. 14, with signs pointing to an increase in enrollment compared to last fall. Registration for curriculum classes runs through Thursday, Aug. 10.
Among various events and activities since the last board meeting, Dr. Williams updated the Trustees on VGCC receiving high national rankings from various national organizations. The college placed seventh on the list of top community colleges in North Carolina by BestColleges.com and 19th among online schools in the state by the Community for Accredited Online Schools. She also reported on VGCC’s recently signed agreement with North Carolina Central University to offer two bachelor’s degree programs on Main Campus. The new Eagle Voyage offerings include a bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education and a bachelor’s in Family and Consumer Sciences with a concentration in Child Development and Family Relations.
Dr. Williams announced the Trustees will have a Board Retreat on Monday, Aug. 28.
Other Action
In other action:
- New and amended board policies for the 2017-2018 Policy Manual were approved by the Trustees on recommendation from the Executive Committee, chaired by Trustee Wright. The policies cover areas of institutional governance, public information and campus safety, personnel policies, academic affairs, institutional research and technology, and finance and operations.
- Trustee L. Opie Frazier, Jr., chair of the Investment Committee, reported on the progress of the college’s investments.
- An informational report on new employees, retirements, resignations and changes in positions was given by the Personnel Committee, chaired by Trustee Sara C. Wester.
The next meeting of the VGCC Board of Trustees will be held on Monday, Sept. 18, at the Main Campus.
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