Making a Difference on the Eastern Shore

“Received the information; thank you so much for your time and information!”

“I really appreciate this. I am glad you are doing this because when one becomes the caregiver, one doesn't even know what to think. Thank you again for your help.”

Navigator Amanda Gada is focusing first on the Peninsula and provided impressive services in 2022. The greatest source of referrals was Riverside’s own providers, followed by calls from the patient or care partner. Additionally, partnerships with Riverside’s Martha W. Goodson Center’s assessment clinics and senior care navigators, with local community agencies, and with Virginia Commonwealth University’s Brain Health Initiative all refer appropriate patients to memory care navigation.

In 2022, 240 referrals were made, and 200 patient/care partner dyads were served, some with just one consultation, and the majority with extensive support.

As the need for navigation services only seems to increase as more people hear about the program, a second memory care navigator is being sought as is funding for the position. Gifts made to this effort will help to ease the extraordinarily difficult journey of dementia patients and those who love them.

Advancing technology

Mr. Durando “Dee” Miller’s estate gift, profiled in the 2021 Year In Review, is now being put into action. He requested that his gift be used on leading-edge technology to provide Eastern Shore patients with great care. Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital is fortunate to have received a Certificate of Public Need for a second CT scanner in the hospital. The new scanner takes twice as many images per inch than the current scanner, making it harder for a small abnormality to escape detection. Having a second scanner will make it easier to have a scanner ready for stroke patients as soon as they come into our care. It will also allow us to offer more appointments for non-emergent scans so that providers can evaluate and start treatment sooner.

RSMH’s first supporters

After too many years of limitations due to COVID, the RSMH Auxiliary was able to once more hold its annual Hospital Ball in person. A gala evening at the Eastern Shore Yacht and Country Club included a delicious dinner, spirited dancing, a silent auction and a spectacular creekside sunset. Thanks to the generous support of attendees, sponsors and auction donors, this popular event was able to make a $35,000 donation to support ophthalmologic surgical equipment for cataract surgeries at RSMH.

Funding the ophthalmologic equipment was a four-year goal for the RSMH Auxiliary that they took on mid-pandemic in 2021. Thanks to the great success of the Hospital Ball and to a meaningful grant from the Eastern Shore of Virginia Community Foundation, the Auxiliary is able to pay its pledge in two years instead of four.

The Auxiliary’s 39th annual Festival of Lights was also held in person for the first time since 2019. This heartwarming holiday gathering allows a moment’s escape from holiday hustle and bustle to honor and remember those we love. We were so happy to come together again to share the warmth of the tree lighting and friends old and new.

Donor celebration

1915 and Founder's Society donors were celebrated in November with a cocktail party and hospital update. RSMH Board Chairman Robert Crockett, RSMH President Nick Chuquin, Riverside Medical Group Board Chairman and local pulmonologist Dr. David Jones and Riverside Health System Chief Philanthropy Officer Kristen Witt took turns sharing the Shore’s success stories and patient impact stories.

Honoring Caramine Kellam

Caramine Kellam was a long-standing and ardent supporter of local health care. She believed that her friends and neighbors on the Shore deserved excellent care, and Caramine backed up her belief with advocacy and leadership. She served two terms as the hospital Board Chairman, was instrumental in the efforts and leadership of the Auxiliary, was focused on and vocal about the benefits of joining the Riverside family, and was one of the hospital’s most loyal champions.

Upon her passing in early 2022, Riverside named a wing of the Shore hospital the Caramine Kellam Leadership and Education Center. In June we celebrated Caramine’s legacy with a plaque unveiling with her daughters, family and close friends.