Tag Archive for: #vancecountynews

Vance County NC

No Curfew Currently Planned for Vance County, City of Henderson

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According to Vance County and City of Henderson officials, there is no immediate plan to enact a curfew for the duration of Governor Cooper’s Stay at Home Order, which is currently in effect through April 29, 2020.

Neighboring counties, including Warren and Franklin, have enacted curfews from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. through the remainder of the order’s effective dates. Travel is allowed for tasks deemed as essential, including seeking medical assistance, grocery shopping and traveling to and from essential jobs.

“The answer today is no [curfew], but this virus has left us all guessing as to what tomorrow may have in store for us,” Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow told WIZS News.

“With the early establishment of a local State of Emergency, Mayor Ellington positioned us, as a unified governmental entity, to be able to make those decisions as the needs of our community change. We are in continuous conversation about the overall well-being of our citizens, and I believe the majority of our community has responded tremendously to the National and State Orders. If nothing else, you can always tag or describe our city as resilient.”

Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame and Henderson Vance Emergency Management Director Brian Short confirmed with WIZS that they have not heard plans for a curfew at this time.

“Right now, there is not a curfew as long as the people are complying with the guidelines and are mindful of the State of Emergency,” Henderson Mayor Eddie Ellington stated. “I would consult with our police chief, city manager, sheriff, as well as the district attorney before we would move on a curfew. We all want to be unified and make the right decision on behalf of our citizens and business community.”

H-V Chamber Logo

Reminder: H-V Chamber’s 2019 Small Business of the Year Nominations Due April 17

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-Information courtesy the Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce

The Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce is looking for nominees for the 2019 Small Business of the Year. This is your opportunity to recognize an outstanding business in the small business community.

You are encouraged to nominate chamber member businesses that are deserving of this recognition. Local small businesses are certainly deserving of recognition, as we have especially seen during these last few weeks.

 2019 Small Business of the Year Criteria:

  • Employs a maximum of 50 people
  • Member of the Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce and must be located in Vance County
  • Must be a viable, on-going business for three or more years, experiencing growth or stability over its business life
  • Provides critical service or products, fills a void in the business community, or has a unique approach to the delivery of goods and services
  • May have overcome diverse or extraordinary circumstances to remain in business
  • Business is supportive of community growth and sustainability
  • Is not a governmental agency or municipality

Anyone can nominate a business they believe deserves recognition and meets the criteria. Companies may also nominate themselves.

Nominations are due to the H-V Chamber no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, April 17, 2020. All applications are confidential.

For a nomination form or if you have questions, please email michele@hendersonvance.org or call the H-V Chamber at (252) 438-8414.

The recipient of the award, sponsored by Duke Energy, will be announced in May.

Previous award winners include:

2018 Holland Industrial
2017 J.M. White Funeral Home
2016 Medical Arts Pharmacy
2015 Vanco Outdoor Equipment
2014 Quick Print
2013 Satterwhite Point Marina
2012 Data Forge
2011 Johnson’s Block and Concrete
2010 City Tire, Inc
2009 Henderson Wellness Center
2008 Franklin Brothers Nursery and Greenhouses
2007 Ballet Arts
2006 Interiors Downtown
2005 Fogg’s Exxon
2004 Vance Furniture
2003 Grays Gourmet
2002 The Peanut Roaster
2001 Raemac Transportation

Maria Parham Health Physician Practices Launch Telemedicine Services

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-Press Release, Maria Parham Health

Virtual visits connect patients and providers beyond the clinic setting. Maria Parham Health Physician Practices announced today that it has added telemedicine to its offerings. The announcement comes on the heels of the Trump administration’s unprecedented expansion of telehealth services.

“We are pleased to offer convenient telemedicine solutions to help connect patients and providers and ensure the continued delivery of high-quality care,” shared Iris Berry, Director of Physician Practices at Maria Parham Health. “As the situation with COVID-19 continues to evolve, telehealth capabilities enable our clinical team to practice social distancing to further reduce the spread of illness while still meeting our patients’ health needs. We look forward to the many ways this new offering will further advance our mission of Making Communities Healthier.”

For patients who meet certain clinical criteria, Maria Parham Health Physician Practices are offering two types of telehealth visits: telephonic and televideo. A telephonic visit is simply a patient phone call with a provider, and a televideo visit is a virtual, face-to-face visit with a provider using a video conferencing service. Virtual visits may not be available in all cases and will be evaluated based on a patient’s specific clinical needs.

Patients can request a telehealth visit by calling their provider’s office, just as they would for an in-person visit. The provider will determine if a telehealth visit is appropriate based on the patient’s health condition. If the virtual visit is deemed clinically appropriate, the patient will be given an appointment time and instructions for the best way to connect given the available platforms. Then, instead of coming to the office, he or she would call back at the scheduled time and be “checked in” by a nurse or office manager, and then transferred to the provider for the call or two-way video.

A few restrictions on telephonic visits may apply, including that they cannot be utilized to treat patients for a condition that the patient has been seen for in the previous seven days, and they cannot be used to treat a condition that the patient is already coming in for within the next 24 hours.

Patients who are concerned they may be experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 are encouraged to consider telemedicine appointments to help further reduce the spread of respiratory illness. Leveraging telemedicine also conserves personal protective equipment (PPE) and other clinical resources that are needed when treating a patient with suspected COVID-19 in the clinic or hospital setting.

Parton’s Imagination Library Presents ‘Goodnight With Dolly’ Book Readings

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-Information courtesy the Franklin-Granville-Vance Smart Start March 2020 Newsletter

Dolly Parton is doing her part in entertaining children amid the novel coronavirus. The country singer recently launched a weekly series in which she reads a children’s book to an online audience at bedtime, selecting books from her popular Imagination Library project.

The nonprofit says the goal for Goodnight With Dolly is to provide “a welcome distraction during a time of unrest and also inspire a love of reading and books.”

The first book that was read by Parton in the 10-week series presented by Dollywood, Abramorama and The Dollywood Foundation was Watty Piper’s “The Little Engine That Could.”

The other books to be read include “There’s a Hole in the Log on the Bottom of the Lake” by Loren Long; “Llama Llama Red Pajama” by Anna Dewdney; “I Am a Rainbow” by Parton; “Pass It On” by Sophy Henn; “Stand Tall Molly Lou Mellon” by Patty Lovell; “Violet the Pilot” by Steve Breen; “Max & The TagAlong Moon” by Floyd Cooper; “Last Stop on Market Street” by Matt de la Peña; and “Coat of Many Colors” by Parton.

The singer’s weekly readings will be posted on her Imagination Library’s YouTube channel, as well as across her Dolly Parton, World Choice Investments and Dollywood channels.

While known as a legend in country music, Parton is also recognized by children as “the Book Lady” after starting her Imagination Library in 1995 in Tennessee. The international book-gifting program launched to a national level in 2000, having delivered more than 130 million free books to children. The organization has shipped books to families in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and the Republic of Ireland.

Children ages birth to five are eligible for the program and, once registered, will receive free books in the mail monthly. The books are developmentally appropriate for children at the age of sign up and change each month as the child grows.

Parents or guardians can enroll children via the Imagination Library website at https://imaginationlibrary.com/check-availability/

More information about Franklin-Granville-Vance Smart Start and its role in promoting the Imagination Library program locally can be found at www.fgvpartnership.org or on the F-G-V Facebook page.

Maria Parham Health

Maria Parham CEO Asks Community to ‘Thank a Healthcare Hero’

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-By Bert Beard, Chief Executive Officer of Maria Parham Health  

As we continue to fight COVID-19, it has been so encouraging to see the outpouring of support from our community for Maria Parham Health. We have always striven to be a place where you choose to come for healthcare, and we take our responsibility as a community leader very seriously.

As our neighbors have come together to do everything possible to slow the spread of this vicious virus amid unprecedented challenges, we have never been more proud to be a part of this community. It is more important than ever that we all continue to take the important steps necessary to keep our community as safe and healthy as possible, including staying home as much as we can, practicing social distancing and following sound medical guidance.

Today, I would ask one more thing of our community, including myself: thank a healthcare hero.

Some moments ask more of us as a society, as a community and as individuals. Moments like those need heroes. From grocery store employees and delivery workers to educators teaching remotely and those keeping our infrastructure and essential services running, this current moment has no shortage of heroes. And that includes our heroes on the frontlines of this crisis – our healthcare workers.

Our healthcare workers are not only a cornerstone of our hospital’s mission of Making Communities Healthier, they are integral members of our community. They are moms and dads. Brothers and sisters. Friends and neighbors. And – today especially – they are heroes, fighting on the frontlines to provide compassionate, quality care when it’s needed most.

At Maria Parham Health, we honor all our providers and employees working hard to ensure a safe place of care and a healthier community for all of us. I hope you will join me and add your voice to the chorus of appreciation for our community’s healthcare heroes by posting your own message of thanks on your favorite social media, with the hashtag #ThankAHealthCareHero.

Let’s show our hometown heroes how much we appreciate their incredible and inspiring efforts to keep us safe.

And thank you again for supporting Maria Parham Health and trusting us with your care as we help guide our community through the COVID-19 situation as safely as possible. We will get through this together.

NC MedAssist

NC MedAssist Crisis Fund Provides Medication to Low-Income, Uninsured Residents

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-Press Release, NC MedAssist

NC MedAssist, a statewide free pharmacy, has launched a Crisis Fund in response to the overwhelming need to provide life-saving medication to low-income and uninsured residents across North Carolina.

Through this fund, NC MedAssist will provide support in two areas: providing over-the-counter medicine to marginalized populations and dispensing free prescription medication to those who have lost their income and health insurance due to COVID-19. NC MedAssist is working with key partners such as Novant Health to ensure every North Carolinian with a chronic illness who has lost their job and health insurance will have access to their lifesaving prescription medication.

NC MedAssist is the only free mail-order pharmacy in North Carolina. Their approach allows for minimal contact for patients to receive their prescription medication. Their Free Over-The-Counter store now offers curbside pickup for their customers.

“We have served North Carolina since 1997, and we are beginning to see one of the largest influx of patients since the 2008 recession. People from all walks of life needed access to their vital prescription medicine during that time,” said Lori Giang, CEO of NC MedAssist. “We expect the same surge of patients to come from the COVID-19 crisis and we do not want to turn anyone away. That is why partnerships like Novant Health are so valuable to helping us serve each patient in need of critical medication.”

NC MedAssist hopes to raise $250,000 by May 31, 2020, to prepare for the increase in patients that will need their services.

To donate go to www.medassist.org/donate.

Jerry Edmonds

Town Talk 04/07/20: Edmonds, VGCC Focus on ‘Hire Education’

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THIS STORY IS PRESENTED IN PART BY DRAKE DENTISTRY

Jerry E. Edmonds, III, vice president of Workforce Development and Community Engagement at Vance-Granville Community College, appeared on WIZS Town Talk Tuesday at 11 a.m.

Serving in this new position since the fall, Edmonds supports economic development for the region and oversees training programs that respond to community needs and prepare students for workforce success.

In addition, Edmonds leads the development of VGCC partnerships with businesses and government agencies and coordinates outreach and marketing.

“The position of workforce and community engagement is a relatively new combination of functions,” Edmonds said. “Our president, Dr. Rachel Desmarais, was certainly futuristic in her assessment that community engagement would be more and more a part of our community college function.”

Workforce development is what has been traditionally referred to as continuing education, Edmonds explained, and includes public safety, short term healthcare courses such as CNA and phlebotomy, and the college’s new truck driver training, among other programs.

The VGCC Small Business Center also falls under the Workforce and Community Engagement umbrella and has become more visible to the public and business community in recent weeks with the economic repercussions of COVID-19 closures.

Sheri Jones, director of the Small Business Center, appeared on WIZS Town Talk last week to discuss her work with local businesses during the health crisis, which has included assistance with small business loan information.

Along with the Small Business Center, VGCC offers customized training programs specific to the local area. Edmonds admitted that not everyone in the community has been aware of these services in the past, a task that he sees as part of his and his team’s role in marketing the college.

“Marketing is an area that we really have to do a little better job as a community college system in getting the word out about the great programs and great work that we do on a daily basis,” Edmonds stated.

Echoing a sentiment shared by Desmarais in previous WIZS interviews, Edmonds said the system is doing just that by focusing on workforce development with individual community colleges training residents for local employment opportunities.

“The NC Community College System has recently embarked upon a marketing campaign with the tagline that North Carolina community colleges are all about ‘Hire Education’ to use a play-on-words’ of ‘higher education,’” said Edmonds. “At the end of the day, all of our programs, be they on the continuing education side or be they on the curriculum side, seek to give students a living wage employment.”

To hear the interview with Edmonds in its entirety, go to WIZS.com and click on Town Talk.

Granville Vance Public Health Hosts COVID-19 ‘Virtual Town Hall’

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Granville Vance Public Health hosted a “Virtual Town Hall” session live via its Facebook page today at 11 a.m.

Public Health Director Lisa Harrison, Henderson Mayor Eddie Ellington, Maria Parham Health (MPH) CEO Bert Beard, and Major Stephen Staton with the Vance County Sheriff’s Office addressed the COVID-19 epidemic and answered questions that were submitted by the public.

Brian Short, Henderson-Vance Emergency Management director, joined the conversation by phone.

Before beginning the question and answer session, Beard provided an update on protocol changes at MPH. “Currently, we are preparing ourselves for the potential surge that will come as a result of this pandemic. We’ve reevaluated all of our infection prevention protocols, implemented additional visitor restrictions and reduced entry points to the hospital. We’ve also modified our personal protective equipment or PPE policies to provide PPE to our staff, patients and, with limited exceptions, visitors.”

Questions the government and health officials addressed in the session include:

Q: Is it safe to go outside and exercise?

A: Yes, enjoy the outdoors and the weather but practice social distancing of at least 6 feet and wear a mask when around others, if possible. Also, avoid congregating in parks or playing sports together.

Q: How many have tested positive for COVID-19 in our area?

A: There are currently 12 confirmed positive cases in Vance County and 76 in Granville County. Of the Granville County cases, 59 are reported at the Federal Correctional Complex in Butner. These numbers can be deceiving as many infected with COVID-19 may be recovering at home without seeking testing or medical care.

Q: How many ventilators does Maria Parham Health have on-site?

A: Twenty-six ventilators with 10 being designated for emergency use.

Q: How can the public show appreciation to healthcare providers?

A: The number one way is by practicing social distancing and following stay at home orders. PPE donations, homemade mask donations for visitors, food donations and words of encouragement are also greatly appreciated.

Q: How long will we need to wear masks?

A: That is still to be determined. Homemade masks protect others from your respiratory droplets but unfortunately don’t offer much protection to you from the virus.

Q: When we see evidence of the curve flattening, how long will the Stay At Home Order remain in place?

A: That is still to be determined. It’s advisable that we stay at home at least two weeks after we see the deceleration of this epidemic.

Q: What is the best way to protect children from COVID-19?

A: Hand washing and staying at home are the best ways to protect everyone. Other suggestions include keeping their immune system strong and making sure they get enough sleep and exercise. The good news is that most children with COVID-19 have mild cases, though there have been a few exceptions.

Q: Will COVID-19 decrease in the summer months or as temperatures rise?

A: We are still learning a lot about the virus. Many are hopeful that it will decrease with the heat and humidity like other viruses, but time will tell. This also means that like other viruses, it can return in the fall.

Q: Will there be an increase in testing?

A: An increase in the number of people tested and a faster testing turnaround time is expected. Testing results went from a 48-72 hour window up to 10 days, due to demand, and is now down to approximately one day. Testing with almost immediate results is expected in the next couple of months.

To hear the session in its entirety, including more detailed responses to the public’s questions, please watch the video contained in this article, or visit the Granville Vance Public Health Department’s Facebook page (click here).

Second Thursday No Charge Food Distribution Not Possible In April

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The Second Thursday No Charge Food Distribution will not be possible this week.

It is normally held at the Vance County Regional Farmers Market, off Beckford Drive in Henderson, on the second Thursday of the month, but the facility is not available, and there are not enough volunteers available.

An area citizen called WIZS Tuesday asking about it, and local organizer and volunteer Betty Boyd was able to provide a quick response by phone. Boyd said, “No, we will not be able to proceed (this month). The farmers market has suspended all rentals, and with the volume of food that we normally receive, there’s just not any way we can distribute that with nine people or less.”

You can be sure that the event organizers are disappointed in not being able to do this distribution this month, but that as soon as possible, and in the interim, they are working hard towards future events.

In the meantime, please visit this link from the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina to locate food resources in our area: https://foodbankcenc.org/find-help/food-finder/

An area partnership of St. James Missionary Baptist Church, First Baptist Church, NC Cooperative Extension Office, Vance County Social Services and the Food Bank of Central & Eastern NC, the monthly distribution supplements the food resources of the Vance County community.