(Charlottesville, Virginia – February 9) The Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce today announced that it will present its 2016 Hovey S. Dabney Award for Corporate Citizenship to the University of Virginia Health System, before a gathering of business and community leaders attending the Annual Chamber Membership Meeting & Business Luncheon held at the Holiday Inn – Emmet Street on Wednesday, February 17th.
“Our Chamber is pleased to present the Hovey S Dabney Award to the University of Virginia Health System, which saves thousands of lives each year and defines what a good citizen enterprise is,” said Chad Zakaib, Vice President of Legacy Hospice, Immediate Past Chairman (2015) of the Chamber Board, and Chairman of the Hovey S. Dabney Award for Corporate Citizenship Selection Committee.
“The University of Virginia, with its 11,000 employees, is one of the leading medical centers in the country and a worldwide leader in medical research — and it’s all right here in our home town,” added Chamber President Timothy Hulbert. “UVA Health saves lives; I know. Thank you and congratulations.”
The Annual Chamber Membership Meeting, underwritten by Virginia National Bank and R.E. Lee Companies, is regularly attended by more than 200 business & civic leaders. The meeting and luncheon at the Holiday Inn – Emmet Street, will begin at 11:30AM. Prior to the award presentation, Adrian Felts, Chief Operations Officer of Centridian, who serves as the 2016 Chairman of the Chamber Board of Directors, will lead a presentation of the 2016 Annual Chamber Report to the Chamber membership and area business and civic leadership. Mr. Bernie Niemeier, Publisher of Virginia Business magazine, will address the Chamber members on the business climate in our Commonwealth and the challenges and opportunities ahead.
The Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce established the Hovey S. Dabney Award for Corporate Citizenship in 2005 to recognize outstanding examples of corporate citizenship in the Greater Charlottesville communities. This Chamber Award is established and named in honor of the late Hovey S. Dabney, a distinguished business leader and citizen in the Greater Charlottesville area, the Commonwealth of Virginia and our nation. The Chamber Hovey S. Dabney Award for Corporate Citizenship is underwritten through the generosity of Hunter E. Craig, W. K. Heischman and Ivo Romenesko.
The University of Virginia Health System is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of America’s “Best Hospitals” and “Best Children’s Hospitals.” The UVA Medical Center is also recognized as a Magnet Center for its quality patient care, excellence in nursing care and innovative practices.
Research conducted at the UVA School of Medicine is leading to the creation of numerous small businesses in the Charlottesville area to commercialize research breakthroughs. Chamber Chairman for 2016 Adrian Felts noted the recent report from the National Venture Capital Association, “Between 2010 and 2015 venture capital in Charlottesville increased by nearly 55% a year, the highest growth rate of any community in the nation, much of this in UVA Health bio-medical and bio-science advancement. Dr. Richard Shannon relayed this good news to our Chamber Board just last week.”
UVA is in partnerships with Hospice of the Piedmont to open the Center for Acute Hospice Care and with the Jefferson Area Board of Aging on the Care Transitions Intervention model. UVA Health System has an ownership stake in Locus Health, a Charlottesville-based business that is working with UVA to reduce hospital readmissions.
UVA Health is also sound local business partner doing $93 million in business with 869 different Virginia-based companies in 2015. UVA Health provides opportunities for many graduates from UVA and from Piedmont Virginia Community College to find career opportunities locally. In 2015, UVA Health hired 50 graduates from the UVA School of Nursing to work at the UVA Medical Center. Further, the Health System is working in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce Charlottesville Works Initiative and PVCC through a Jesse Ball DuPont Foundation grant to train underemployed local residents for healthcare careers.
UVA Health is actively involved in numerous area civic organizations including the Charlottesville Free Clinic Charlottesville; Community Health Fair; area school tours; the United Way – Thomas Jefferson Area’s annual Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring (with more than 400 employees working to assist more than 50 local nonprofits with projects); the Charlottesville Regional Chamber; and, many, many more.
UVA Health System’s leadership, physicians, nurses and staff contribute their time and treasure to more than 1,200 non-profit organizations throughout our region. Health System leaders serving as board members include: Pamela Sutton-Wallace: United Way Thomas Jefferson Area; Dorrie Fontaine and Liz Nottingham: Hospice of the Piedmont; Larry Fitzgerald: Charlottesville Free Clinic; and, Patricia Cluff: the Center for Nonprofit Excellence, who previously served on the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and as the Chamber Board Chair in 2012.
The 2016 Chamber Hovey S. Dabney Award Selection Committee, in addition to Mr. Zakaib as Committee Chairman, includes: Paul Beyer, Martin Burks, III, Alison DeTuncq, Adrian Felts, Michael Guthrie,
Kristina Hofmann, Timothy Hulbert, Robert Pflugfelder, Joseph Raichel, Ivo Romenesko, and Erika Viccellio.
The Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to representing private enterprise, promoting business and enhancing the quality of life in our greater Charlottesville communities. The Chamber’s more than 1,200 member and affiliate member enterprises employ more than 45,000 people in our community, representing an estimated total payroll of more than $1.75 billion a year.
