Helping Those in Need

A healthcare provider’s focus is on service to the client, the family and their community.

Linda Davis ’95, M.S.N. ’05, D.N.P. ’10, a three-time graduate of the Waldron College of Health and Human Services’ School of Nursing, has shown just how productive one woman’s focus can be. Her creation of the Pulaski Adult Day Care Service and Fall Prevention Center (PADS-FPC) is tangible proof.

The facility rose from the rubble of the old Dublin Elementary School. The driving force was Davis’ commitment to serving an underserved community with which she was familiar both professionally and personally.

The credentials after Davis’s name — B.S.N., M.S.N., D.N.P., G.C.N.S.-B.C. — are a catalog of degrees earned at Radford University. Davis earned her bachelor of science in nursing in 1995, her master of science in nursing with a specialty in gerontology with board certification as a clinical nurse specialist in 2005 and her doctor of nursing practice, the terminal degree for nursing, in 2010.

Davis has successfully conceived, financed, promoted, coordinated construction and launched the $1.7 million dollar, 4,200-square-foot facility and program to serve Pulaski County. PADS-FPC has a registered nurse, a rotating pair of social workers and other expert caregivers and therapists to serve up to 30 clients a day.

The facility opened in November 2016 and capped a process that began for Davis in 2006 as she struggled to care for her own ailing mother.

“It has been absolutely amazing to see what the community has been able to do to help families who are dealing 24/7 with caregiving for a loved one,” Davis said.

The PADS-FPC, according to Davis, provides activities and a safe, secure environment for participants requiring supervised daily care. The adult day care center works with those suffering from dementia, physical disability, mental illness and developmental disabilities, among others. It also provides freedom, comfort, education and support for the caregivers who are responsible for them.

“To cut down on health care costs and the revolving door to the hospital, the center is a place where our clients can be creative, gain control of chronic disease, be monitored and socialize,” Davis said.

The facility serves Radford University students as well. The PADS-FPC is a site at which occupational therapy, nursing, physical therapy, music therapy, social work and recreational therapy students receive clinical experience. Alumni of those programs have also landed jobs on the PADS-FPC staff.

Bonnie Fox, 2016 recreation therapy graduate, recently joined the staff to supervise activities and Cindie Wolfe ’13, a music therapy graduate and board-certified music therapist, is a contractor who gathers the clients together for spirited sessions of song and sound.

Davis freely admits she had to gain mentors for the business aspects of the project. She credits her nursing mentors Ginger Burggraf, professor of nursing, and Vickie Bierman, associate professor of nursing, with being role models for the indomitable courage and nursing wisdom that inspired her to forge into the unknown on behalf of her clients and persevere. She credits emeritus faculty member Marcella Griggs with being another mentor. Griggs spearheaded the capital campaign to support the facility and its programs that is nearing its $500,000 goal. Davis said she also got invaluable guidance from David Shanks, former director of Radford’s Small Business Development Center, and Yolanda Hunter, MBA ’02, of Beans & Rice.

When the PADS-FPC opened its doors in November, it culminated Davis’ entrepreneurial building of a public-private partnership. Davis rallied support and effort from Pulaski County, a slate of local foundations, area businesses and citizens.

“Because of my long relationship with Radford University, I relied upon its faculty, staff and students as great resources,” Davis said. “In so many ways, Radford gave this project focus, skills and knowledge that I am blessed to share with my community and those trapped by a disability.”

During her residency as a D.N.P. candidate, Davis founded the Southwestern Virginia Fall Prevention Coalition. Last April, Davis focused her skills and passion for collaboration to coordinate a Fall Prevention Summit that brought experts from across the region together to address the persistent threat of falling to the growing gerontological population. The summit attracted support and cooperation from both major regional healthcare providers — Carilion Clinic and the Lewis Gale Health System.

“That event was a real breakthrough on working to build a statewide Fall Prevention Coalition, which will work to overcome the national health problem,” she said.

Radford University has always been key to the collaborations Davis has led to successful conclusions, she said.

“At each level of my professional growth and in these projects’ development, I would learn and apply the evidence, raise questions and find good advisors,” she said. “Our clients, their families and the community have benefited from the expertise available at Radford University.” ■