Content provided by Carilion Clinic, LewisGale Regional Health System and the Salem VA Medical Center.
Courtesy of Carilion Cinic
Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital
Carilion Clinic
Health Care in Virginia’s Blue Ridge
Virginia’s Blue Ridge is known for its rich outdoor amenities and its bustling small city vibe nestled among some of Virginia’s most beautiful landscapes. However, no community is complete without a quality health care system to foster health and wellness – now more than ever.
Carilion Clinic has delivered compassionate care in this region for more than 100 years. Beginning as a single hospital resting at the base of Mill Mountain, the system has grown into an innovative powerhouse. Carilion now includes seven hospitals, 282 practice sites and more than 75 specialties and the region’s only Level 1 Trauma Center.
As our world has been changed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Carilion providers have continued to innovate and improve care.
Taking care of your health has never been more important. Carilion offers physician referral services such as Carilion Direct (800-422-8482 or direct@carilionclinic.org) and Find a Doctor tools on CarilionClinic.org that can help you get established with a provider near you. Check out the questions below to learn how you can get the healthcare you need.
Q: What should I do to take control of my health and stay healthy?
A: Carilion encourages everyone to have a provider that you trust and understands your medical history. The best way to attain this is schedule a visit with a primary care provider, who can help you navigate your health care and perform standard wellness services.
You can visit CarilionClinic.org to find a provider that is right for you. Our practices cover the entire Virginia’s Blue Ridge region and many offer virtual visits to connect with patients if they prefer. We use tools, such as MyChart, which allow patients to easily communicate electronically with health care providers and manage their own medical records with ease.
For those with children, Carilion Children’s Tanglewood Center is a new state-of-the-art facility in Roanoke County that is home to the system’s pediatric specialty practices. Visit CarilionClinic.org/Childrens for more information.
And remember, the best way to stay healthy and protect yourself and others from COVID-19 is to be fully vaccinated. You can receive a COVID-19 vaccine at any of Carilion’s pharmacies. Regardless of your vaccination status, make sure to wear and mask, wash your hands and keep your distance from others to prevent the spread of the virus.
Courtesy of Carilion Clinic
Carilion Children’s Pediatric Medicine
Q: Is it safe to visit the doctor’s office right now?
A: It is very important not to skip your regular doctor’s appointments. Ignoring injuries or symptoms can result in longer recovery or worse. Don’t let the fear of COVID-19 keep you from getting the care you need. Carilion has taken many precautions to keep you safe when you come through our doors, including implementing screenings for staff and patients, masking, visitor restrictions and vaccination or testing requirements for staff.
If you have a non-life-threatening illness or injury, or you simply need a COVID-19 test, visit one of Carilion’s primary care, urgent care or retail pharmacy options. To find a COVID-19 testing site near you, visit www.vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus/covid-19-testing-sites/ or call 1-877-VAX-IN-VA (1-877-829-4682).
Visit the emergency room or call 911 if you are experiencing critical or life-threatening illnesses or injuries.
To learn more and get plugged in, visit CarilionClinic.org.
Courtesy of LewisGale Regional Health System
LewisGale
LewisGale Medical Center
Leading the Way with Advanced Medical Technology, Compassionate Care, and Tomorrow’s Healthcare Leaders
LewisGale Medical Center, located in Salem, Virginia, is part of HCA Virginia Health System, the Commonwealth’s most comprehensive provider network with 14 hospitals, 27 outpatient centers, five freestanding emergency rooms and affiliations with 3,000 physicians. Through our comprehensive network of healthcare providers and facilities, HCA Virginia Health System has delivered 2.3 million patient encounters, including 469,000 ER visits and 14,800 newborn deliveries.
Delivering High-Quality Health Outcomes is a Top Priority
LewisGale continually strives for clinical excellence while making patient safety a top priority. The hospital has consistently been recognized for patient safety and health outcomes. Among recent national recognitions is the Healthgrades Orthopedic Surgery Excellence Award, which the hospital has received for six consecutive years. LewisGale has also received Healthgrades Spine Surgery Excellence Award for four consecutive years. These recognitions place the hospital among the top 5 percent in the nation for overall orthopedic services and spine surgery.
As an accredited chest pain center and primary stroke center, the health care team has demonstrated its commitment to providing evidence-based processes that are proven to result in the best outcomes possible.
Advanced Medical Technology Improves Outcomes, Reduces Pain, Shortens Patient Stays
LewisGale offers a wide range of inpatient and outpatient surgical procedures performed by highly trained surgeons and staff. With access to the latest, advanced technologies, surgeons perform laparoscopic and other minimally invasive approaches, including robotic-assisted surgery, resulting in less pain and scarring, and faster recovery.
Last year, LewisGale Medical Center was the first hospital in Virginia to commercially use a new robotic bronchoscope that provides physicians with continuous, direct vision throughout a procedure used to biopsy lung nodules and detect lung cancer in its earliest, most treatable, stage. Additionally, Southwest Virginia’s first robotic esophagectomy was also performed at LewisGale Medical Center, enabling surgeons to perform delicate and complex operations, often used to remove esophageal cancer.
As a regional heart care leader, LewisGale Medical Center continues to add new procedures, including transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) service, a minimally-invasive alternative to open heart surgery for the treatment of aortic stenosis.
Partnering with Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute to Bring World-Class Cancer Care Close to Home
In 2021, LewisGale Medical Center partnered with Sarah Cannon, the Cancer Institute of HCA Healthcare, to expand its comprehensive cancer services in Southwestern Virginia. Patients treated for cancer at all HCA Virginia facilities have access to even more advanced and evidence-based care — from screenings, diagnostics, and surgery, to radiation, chemotherapy, and novel clinical trials – eliminating the need to travel far from home.
Since partnering with Sarah Cannon, LewisGale Medical Center has introduced technologies and therapies, such as the robotic bronchoscope, one of the many benefits our partnership with the Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute brings to physicians and patients in this region.
Courtesy of LewisGale Regional Health System
LewisGale Hospital Blue Hills ER
Quick, Convenient Access to Emergency, Life-Saving Care
With five HCA Virginia ERs located throughout Southwest Virginia in Roanoke, Salem, Blacksburg, Pulaski, and Low Moor, patients have access to emergency, life-saving care, close to home. A sixth emergency room – LewisGale Hospital Blue Hills ER, located on West Ruritan Road – opens in spring 2022. This strategic location, which will provide the same services provided in an emergency room that is housed within the walls of a hospital, will provide faster, more convenient emergency care to residents who live near this busy Route 460 corridor.
A new real-time, cloud-based communication network and mobile app technology to communicate lifesaving information between its network of hospitals and emergency medical services (EMS) in the field was also introduced in 2021. The system is the first in Southwest Virginia to offer this real-time technology, enabling ER physicians to diagnose in real time a life-threatening event such as a stroke, heart attack/arrest, shock, or sepsis before the patient arrives at the hospital. It also enables the ER to activate the appropriate healthcare team to begin administering immediate, life-saving care as soon as the patient arrives, further increasing the odds of a successful recovery.
Caring for the Communities We Serve
LewisGale Medical Center and its employees care about your health and take an active role in caring for the communities they serve, live in and work in. In addition to providing outstanding healthcare to patients, LewisGale Medical Center supports numerous health awareness events at area employers and throughout the community annually to further strengthen and improve health and wellness.
Training Tomorrow’s Healthcare Leaders
Looking to the future, LewisGale Medical Center is helping train tomorrow’s exceptional physicians through its Graduate Medical Education Program (GME) in internal medicine, family medicine, psychiatry, and emergency medicine. In addition, LewisGale Medical Center partners with local schools and colleges to help build relationships that foster the growth and professional development of future nurses. Through these partnerships, several nursing programs hold their clinicals at our hospital, some of our staff members serve as students’ clinical instructors, and other nursing staff members sit on the advisory board at Virginia Western Community College and the University of Lynchburg.
LewisGale’s Mission and Vision
Above all else, we are committed to the care and improvement of human life. In pursuit of our mission, we stand by the following value statements:
We recognize and affirm the unique and intrinsic worth of each individual.
We treat all we serve with compassion and kindness.
We trust our colleagues as valuable members of our healthcare team and pledge to treat one another with loyalty, respect and dignity.
We act with absolute honesty, integrity and fairness in the way we conduct our business and the way we live our lives.
Salem VA Medical Center
Some of the country’s bravest men and women call Virginia’s Blue Ridge home, and local veterans trust the professionals at Salem VA Medical Center (Salem VAMC) for all of their health care-related needs, including long-term care, primary care, a women’s health program and more.
The medical center specializes in providing outpatient care and rehabilitation services to patients who are experiencing complications associated with combat, stroke, amputation, spinal cord injuries, surgery, chronic illnesses and much more.
Caregivers also play a key role in nursing patients back to health. Through the facility’s caregiver support program, loved ones are reassured that they are not alone in the process. The medical center is there to assist with tools and emotional encouragement.
For veterans whose medical treatment plans require a prescription, the medical center makes getting pharmaceuticals as simple as possible. The Salem VAMC pharmacy processes more than 1,800 prescriptions on a daily basis. Veterans can refill their prescriptions online or via phone or mail.
In an effort to be at the forefront of emerging medical breakthroughs, the medical center also features a research and development program that explores numerous areas of study including cardiology, mental health, pulmonology, endocrinology and nephrology. Patients have the opportunity to participate in studies as well.
When veterans walk into the doors of the Salem VAMC, they can rest easy knowing that all of their needs will be met with compassion and experience.