Caring for Patients Outside Our“Four Walls”

Addressing congestive heart failure (CHF)

Areas of Impact

With the generous support of dedicated donors, in 2022 Riverside invested $1,639,782 in the following areas throughout the communities we serve: n Patient Assistance – Unmet needs critical to healing such as medication and transportation

$191,226 n Areas of Greatest Need – Allowing us to care for others as we would care for those we love

$232,279 n Cancer Care

$356,161 n Education (Simulation Lab and Scholarships)

$795,457 n Healthy Aging (Hospice and Lifelong Health) $1,245,755 n Make a Difference/ Area of Greatest Need $4,014,883 n Neurosciences (Riverside Behavioral Health Center, Memory Care and Neurosciences)

$366,886 n Program Support – Vital resources for cancer, hospice and memory care patients and their caregivers

$84,873 n Education – Scholarships and continuing education for current and future health care heroes

$587,605 n Facility and Technology Enhancements – Patient care equipment, patient and visitor hospitality, and physician support items

$543,799

CHF is a relatively common diagnosis, but its impact on the patient is anything but mundane. To address this pervasive condition, Riverside’s provider team includes a cardiologist who specifically focuses on heart failure.

Shortly after joining Riverside, Dr. Divya Gumber realized that supporting patients in their home setting was vital to preventing readmissions to the hospital. Through donor funding, the Foundation was proud to supply blood pressure monitors, scales and weekly pill dispensers to elevate the patient’s ability to keep track of their disease in between office visits.

With our patient population, there is an expected rate of readmission to the hospital within 30 days of a previous visit. It is our goal to have fewer readmissions than expected. In part due to the above-mentioned donorfunded home devices, along with multidisciplinary efforts including a CHF Navigator, partnership with the palliative care team, and a clinic dedicated to CHF, our rate of CHF readmissions at Riverside Regional Medical Center has dramatically improved. In 2022, we had a greater than 20% decline in CHF readmissions from the year before – that’s a win!

The gift of time

Our clinical team members care for the whole patient and are often able to suggest assistance that will fulfill emotional needs as well as health care needs. In the case of one 43-year-old end-stage lung cancer patient, that assistance included a final visit with her sons. Donated patient assistance funds were used to organize a trip for her adult son who lives in Texas to come to Virginia to spend a few last days with his mother and younger brother.

The patient had the gift of time spent with her sons walking on the beach, laughing and smiling during a few emotional and meaningful few days. At the end of the visit, the younger son moved to Texas with his older brother and the family cats.

The oncology nurse who suggested this assistance wrote, “I would like to express to you all my profound thanks for the gift you recently gave one of my young cancer patients. I cannot thank you enough for this gift, and please pass along my gratitude to the Foundation for all that they do.”