Blue Ridge Medical Center to host benefit breakfast

Your plate of eggs and pancakes could help provide the health care someone needs in Nelson County.

A benefit breakfast will be held Monday, Jan. 23 from 8 to 10 a.m. to raise money for the Rural Health Outreach Program. The event will be held in the employee break room located on the first floor of the new Blue Ridge Medical Center’s facility. Anyone is welcome to come and go throughout the two hours. The suggested donation is $5 a plate.

In addition to breakfast, representatives from the Blue Ridge Medical Center and the Lovingston Health and Rehabilitation Center, the event’s sponsors, will be there to tell people about their organizations.

“Folks should definitely come out to check out our new facility if they haven’t yet,” said Liz Burnett, the director of development at the Blue Ridge Medical Center. “More importantly, it’s a great way to support a great cause (with the Rural Health Outreach Program), and learn more about two wonderful local organizations that support community health.”

Burnett said the breakfast was also a great way for people to start off their week. Right now, the menu consists of bagels, pancakes, eggs, sausage, fruit and coffee.

The money raised will go towards financing the services the program offers to the county, including dental and vision care, and transportation to help patients get to their medical appointments. It was created in 1991 and is the extension of the Blue Ridge Medical Center that goes out into the community, especially in areas where people do not have access to primary health care. The outreach program is funded through grants and donations.

Starting Jan. 30, the outreach program will be housed in the new medical center located at 4038 Thomas Nelson Highway in Arrington, closing the current office in Lovingston. The Amherst office will remain open.

The change helps patients who would travel from the medical center to the Lovingston office. It is also more convenient for the staffs of both facilities. Since the two will be housed in the same facility, the close proximity will promote communication and referrals between the staffs, Greg Tyree, the program manager for the outreach program, said in a news release.

Although numerous fundraisers have been held for the outreach program, this is the first time a breakfast has been served.

Since this is the first event of this kind, the organizers said they are unsure how many people to expect. They are asking people to RSVP ahead of time so they can ensure there will be enough food for everyone.

“We want as many people as possible to come in and meet each other,” said Lauren Noonkester, the administrator for Lovingston Health & Rehabilitation Center. “It’s a great time to get a good breakfast and learn about health care in Nelson.”

Lovingston Health & Rehabilitation Center hosts a fundraiser each month. Its members approached the medical center about partnering up for their January event as a way to promote both organizations, including the new building.

“This will show the community they have good health care right here in Nelson County,” Noonkester said.

Lovingston Health and Rehab is a skilled nursing facility that specializes in physical, occupational and speech therapy. It has short and long term care patients from a variety of ages, with a majority of the patients in their 60s. The center has been in Lovingston for more than 25 years and specializes in rehab programs for patients that underwent cardiac, elective or joint replacement surgeries.

The two organizations have always been partners in the medical field, with doctors and nurses from the medical center referring to Lovingston Health and Rehab on some cases. The medical center would also treat some of the Lovingston Health and Rehab patients, Burnett said.

In addition to raising money for the outreach program, Burnett said they are hoping to get community members to the facility.

She said, “We are hoping it will attract some non-patients to check out the center and really let them see what we have to offer.”