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Saturday September 25th

Unc Hospitals

The UNC Heelgram club makes cards and sends them to people with disabilities. Photo courtesy of Reagan Fleeher.

UNC Heel-Gram: Sending love one letter at a time

By Sarah Choi | May. 19

MacKenzie Maddox is a co-founder of the HeelGram club. She has an extended family member who regularly received letters from his community over quarantine. Seeing how much he enjoyed them, she was inspired to bring that dynamic to UNC. “Writing and receiving the letters has been therapeutic for our volunteer letter writers, especially since it provides a break from schoolwork,” she said. “It's just as rewarding for me as those with whom we communicate.”

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A tent stands outside the emergency wing of the UNC Medical Center on Monday, March 23, 2020. The tent was set up to keep coronavirus patients separated from other patients and hospital staff members.

N.C. hospitals are changing operations and procedures, adapting to COVID-19 spread

By Suzannah Claire Perry and Elizabeth Egan | Apr. 5, 2020

Hospitals across the state of North Carolina are taking steps to ensure that they are ready for the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, expected to come to North Carolina at the end of April. Many hospitals, including UNC Health Care, have limited visiting and nonessential surgeries, but one of the major strains is the lack of personal protective equipment and the long hours now confronting workers. "For the COVID ICU patients, it was just me," Dr. Thomas Bice said. "In addition to the usual thinking about critical care that I had to do, we all had to take on some additional administrative duties, like fielding phone calls or writing notes or writing orders, that are more along the lines of what often the residents take care of."

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Mike Gardner, Carolina Air Care ground critical care paramedic and Alan Wolf, UNC Health Care spokesperson, stand with Tar Heel 1 at the helipad at UNC Medical Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2020. Carolina Air Care is the only true 24/7 neonatal pediatric special care team in North Carolina.

The medics of the sky: how Carolina Air Care transports critical patients

By Noah Dolgoff | Jan. 21, 2020

In the limited space of the helicopter, Hooks and Snow provide critical care throughout the duration of the flight, using ventilation devices and IV drips. Both men dedicated decades of public service, including time as emergency responders, to reach this point in their career. “The next time you see a helicopter, you know what’s in the back,” Hooks said. “It could be a family member, a friend or anyone like that. It’s not just a cool helicopter flying through the air.”

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Patrick Conway mugshot; June 22, 2019 – photo courtesy of Randolph County Sheriff’s Office 

Ousted Blue Cross CEO still eligible to treat UNC Hospitals children after charges

By Evelyn Gandy | Oct. 8, 2019

Details emerged publicly last month regarding the arrest of Patrick Conway this past summer, when he drunkenly crashed his vehicle into a tractor trailer while his two young daughters were in the backseat. Conway, who was CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina at the time, stepped down at the urging of the his company's trustees amid the public backlash. However, the incident hasn't cost Conway all opportunities in the health industry. Despite his currently-pending charges, which include DWI and misdemeanor child abuse, Conway still "has privileges and works occasional shifts" at UNC Hospitals' N.C. Children's Hospital, and it's unclear if his pediatrician privileges will face any impact from the arrest.

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Scott Reece, 45, helps his wife, Nunny Reece, 41, who has stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, tie her shoes on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019. Nunny Reece and her husband frequent UNC Hospital often and face additional challenges due to parking costs, which typically are up to $10 a day. On this day, Reece had a parking permit due to her receiving radiation treatment all week. 

'It broke us' : Parking fees strain cancer patients while building revenue for UNC

By Eva Ellenburg and Arabella Saunders | Oct. 2, 2019

Most long-term patients, such as those with cancer, pay the same amount for parking at UNC Hospitals as every other visitor throughout the state. Some are exasperated over the additional toll those parking fees add to their week-by-week treatment schedules.  While alternative options have been created for a few specific circumstances, many patients don’t qualify and have seen parking expenses pile up. Meanwhile, the University generated $3.7 million in revenue last year through its Dogwood Parking Deck, one of two primary parking areas for UNC Hospitals patients and visitors.

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Local Google employees clean toys at the Ronald McDonald House of Chapel Hill as part of GoogleServe, a month-long volunteer program.

Google's sweetest service? A trip to trick out Ronald McDonald House of Chapel Hill

By Marin Wolf | Jul. 1, 2019

Employees from the Chapel Hill, Durham and Lenoir, North Carolina Google offices participated in the annual GoogleServe event, with this year's focus being a revamp of a space in the Ronald McDonald House of Chapel Hill. After weeks of planning, the team decided to take on the House's video game room, which was in need of new technology. The volunteers donated thousands of dollars worth of TVs, gaming consoles and Google electronics, as well as new toys and bean bag chairs for the play rooms. After hours of cleaning, building and baking, the House was decked out and ready for families who need a clean, fun space to relax after long days at the hospital. For the RMH, which fundraises 93 percent of its yearly operating budget, this donation was important — and the day of service cemented a partnership between RMH Chapel Hill and the local Google offices that will continue into the future. 

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