Sentara RMH offers a gift to VPAS

HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) – In recognition of a Sentara RMH Medical Center employee survey that identified the Valley Program for Aging Services (VPAS) as a nonprofit organization that makes significant contributions to the local community, Sentara Healthcare has donated a $15,000 gift to VPAS.

This new aspect of the employee survey has been added to invite Sentara employees to provide feedback on the organizations and partnerships they support.

Sentara RMH Medical Center employees selected VPAS from a list of nonprofit organizations in the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County area. The resulting financial award will bolster a VPAS initiative to support caregivers and create more dementia-friendly communities in the Central Shenandoah Valley.

Dementia is a growing public health crisis in Virginia. There are 150,000 people aged 65 and over with Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia. This number continues to increase.

Most people with dementia live at home rather than in institutions, and there are fewer and fewer people to care for them. Caregivers face physical, emotional, mental and financial challenges that not only threaten their ability to care for loved ones, but also affect their own health.

The donation will help fund VPAS caregiver support circles, one-on-one counselling, respite care programs, dementia workshops and educational resources. It will also reinforce a new initiative to ensure that public spaces such as shops, restaurants, churches and businesses are easier for people with dementia to visit.

“We work with Sentara RMH staff every day to improve the health of our elderly neighbors and we are extremely grateful for their vote of confidence in us, said Jeri Schaff, Executive Director of VPAS. “This donation will make a profound difference in our ability to create communities where everyone can age well.

Copyright 2022 WHSV. All rights reserved.

Comments are closed.