In response to everything happening with the COVID-19 pandemic, several local groups decided to raise money to feed medical workers at local facilities.
Though Hearts of Empowerment, the P.U.S.O. Foundation and Mighty Meals all typically serve different purposes in the community, they began a joint GoFundMe campaign to feed health care workers throughout the Tysons area, according to a press release.
Since the campaign’s kick-off on March 24, the organizers have raised $4,250 and counting. So far, more than 85 people have donated to the cause.
Hearts of Empowerment is a non-profit organization that wants to ensure that no charity is forced to close its doors due to a lack of funding, its website said, adding that it will donate $750 of the company’s own funds in addition to what is raised on the GoFundMe page.
The P.U.S.O. Foundation, which stands for Purposeful Unconditional Service to Others, works to empower people in underserved areas of the world, according to its website. The foundation will donate an extra $1,000, on top of what is crowdsourced, according to the GoFundMe campaign.
Mighty Meals — the group that will cater the food — was founded on a platform that everyone should have access to healthy and fulfilling meals, its website said. Mighty Meals will match the total donation amount by 25%, according to the GoFundMe.
“To date, we have delivered over 200 meals and our efforts will continue on a weekly basis as we have made it our goal to feed the staff of a new hospital every week,” a spokesperson for Hearts of Empowerment said.
On top of the funding for meals, Trophy Body Personal Training will be sponsoring free social distancing outdoor workouts for doctors and nurses, according to the GoFundMe.
Photos courtesy Hearts of Empowerment
After being stabbed in his own home, a 61-year old man from Vienna died yesterday at the hospital, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.
The victim, Mohammed Hemmatian, was found by first responders at 2900 Edgelea Road with upper body trauma on Sunday morning (Dec. 29) around 8:30 a.m., according to a police report.
Another man, 27-year old Abdulloi Toshpulodzoda, was on the scene after the incident and is now facing murder charges, police said. Toshpulodzoda was originally taken to the hospital for an evaluation but was not injured; police say he later suffered a medical emergency at the hospital.
Both men lived at the address, in the Vienna area, according to FCPD.
The events leading up to the violence are still unclear.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the police by calling 703-246-7800 or submitting an anonymous tip. FCPD says this was the 13th homicide of the year so far in Fairfax County.
Homicide investigation underway after fatal stabbing in Vienna. #FCPD #FairfaxCounty https://t.co/EGezNRBeGH pic.twitter.com/rFCqPQ5ZL1
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) December 29, 2019
Furry four-legged friends in the Town of Vienna may get a new animal hospital.
Banfield Pet Hospital, a preventative health care provider for pets with more than 1,000 locations across the country, wants to bring its services to 414 E. Maple Avenue.
“The hospital will primarily service the surrounding community,” according to the staff report.
Built in 1967, the building has two tenant spaces — one space is home to Leslie’s Pool Supplies, while the other one is the vacant spot Banfield wants.
Banfield plans to provide a range of services, according to its application, including:
- full-service veterinarian care
- general surgery
- a pharmacy
- retail pet supply sales
- an internal dog run area
The animal hospital would operate between 7 a.m.-7 p.m. seven days a week. It would not allow pets to stay overnight or provide long-term boarding.
About 20 to 25 pets would visit the animal hospital daily, Aaron Vorasane, the applicant’s representative, told the Planning Commission last night (Wednesday).
As part of the application, the animal hospital wants to install a 4-foot-tall chain link fence to help prevent trash and debris from entering a nearby creek and create a waste pick-up bag station on the grassy area to the side of the building.
Commissioner Sharon Baum raised a concern about dog urine running into the creek. Commissioner Mary McCullough responded by saying that Banfield’s proposed fence and waste area would encourage dog walkers and owners to keep their pets’ waste in a confined area away from the creek.
To limit noise, Banfield wants to install soundproofing in the wall neighboring Leslie’s Pool Supplies.
“Staff believes that the applicant is proposing appropriate mitigation strategies for any potential impacts from the business,” according to the staff report. “The installation of the chain link fence along the rear property line will further mitigate impacts to the abutting creek.”
The Planning Commission voted in favor of the animal hospital. The application now moves onto the Board of Zoning Appeals, which will consider the conditional use permit.
Image via Google Maps
NFL Network reporter Kim Jones went on the Today Show Wednesday to tell the story about how local doctors saved her life.
In November, Jones suffered a medical emergency while covering a Washington Redskins practice. She ended up at Inova Fairfax Hospital, where doctors determined she was suffering from a rare aortic dissection and quickly performed emergency surgery that saved her life.
An aortic dissection is a tear in the heart, the same condition that killed comedian John Ritter.
Jones told the Today Show anchors that she’s lucky to be alive and grateful for the doctors who saved her.
As Tysons grows, it’s going to need access to medical care.
The Reston Hospital Center has an application, initially filed in late 2017 and still listed as “under staff review,” to build a freestanding emergency department at 2000 Old Gallows Road in Tysons.
“As Tysons continues to develop with additional office buildings and homes, it is essential that convenient and accessible health care services are available to meet the increasing need,” Reston Hospital Center, LLC, wrote in the application.
The emergency department would be located southwest of the Leesburg Pike-Beltway interchange. The proposed site is a triangular lot that closely abuts a residential development, which presents a number of development challenges.
The site is currently overgrown with foliage but was approved in 2002 to be developed as a drive-through bank. The application indicates that while the hospital would have a larger floor area, it would generate less peak hour and daily vehicle traffic than the drive-through bank.
“It will provide hospital-level emergency care in a convenient and accessible location and will be operated 24 hours per day,” according to the application. “Despite its capabilities and accessibility, the [freestanding emergency department] will accommodate far less patients than a typical emergency department operating within a hospital, allowing patients to receive necessary treatment quickly and efficiently.”
Though the facility would operate for 24-hours per day, patients would not stay overnight. The application notes that patients admitted to the building would be treated and discharged within hours of their admission or would be transferred to a hospital for higher levels of care.
HCA, Inc., which owns the Reston Hospital Center, operates a number of freestanding emergency departments across the country.
The application says that most patients visit these types of freestanding emergency departments between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. and that an average of two patients are transported to the facilities via ambulance per day.
The growing need for emergency services in Tysons also prompted plans for a new fire station in Tysons East.
Image via Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning
