Madison House

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Rounding with Heart program promotes virtual volunteering for cardiac care hospital units

Most Madison House volunteering programs have been unable to operate as normal for nearly a year now. In-person volunteering continues to be suspended, however, three of the almost 40 Madison House Medical Services programs — Rounding with Heart, Pediatric Genetic Counseling and Spanish Interpretation — have found creative ways to overcome these limitations and continue to execute the Madison House mission of serving the needs of the Charlottesville community through virtual means.

Rounding with Heart was founded in 2015 and serves as a program that partners with the cardiology unit of the University Hospital to provide volunteers to help with scheduling rounds — a practice where a healthcare team discusses the status and treatment plan of each patient. The rounding program was done in person prior to the pandemic and is one of the few medical services programs feasible for a switch to a virtual setting through Webex — a video conferencing platform protected by the U.Va. Health firewall.

Volunteers are tasked with making sure that the whole healthcare team, a group of 10 to 15 professionals, are present at video conferences to round — a process in which various medical professionals come together to discuss patients’ condition and plans for ongoing care.

Read the rest of this Cavalier Daily story here.