Novant Health Haymarket Medical Center opened its doors earlier this morning for care and services. The new four-story, 60-bed community hospital will serve the growing and diverse northern Virginia community. The 221,000-square-foot facility, designed to transform healthcare, houses a full complement of services, including emergency care, surgery, cancer care, women’s and children’s services, including maternity care, imaging, cardiac diagnostics, interventional radiology and critical care. Haymarket Medical Center strengthens Novant Health’s integrated healthcare network in northern Virginia complimenting its other acute care facility – Novant Health Prince William Medical Center, located in Manassas, Virginia.

Haymarket Medical Center, Novant Health’s fifteenth medical center and first prototypical hospital design, features all-private patient rooms with ample space to accommodate family and visitors. All rooms are equipped with computers for bedside documentation – thoughtfully designed to enable nurses to spend more time at the patient’s bedside. Patients are encouraged to play a role in their care with conversation and verification of information. The first floor has a 20-room emergency department, cardiac diagnostics, interventional radiology, a patient care unit, a café, a gift shop, conference rooms, an interfaith room of reflection, financial counseling and guest services. The second floor hosts surgical services with four state-of-the-art operating rooms and one procedure room on one end and women’s and children’s care on the other end with a labor and delivery unit, two dedicated cesarean section operating rooms, a well-baby nursery and postpartum unit. Again, thoughtfully designed to create efficiency for anesthesia services. The critical care unit, medical/surgical unit, inpatient rehabilitation and pharmacy are located on the third floor.


Stafford’s 350th Blue Ribbon Anniversary Committee and the North Stafford Rotary Club are finalizing plans for the May 3 Founders Day “Presented by The Free Lance-Star Media Companies” event, and invite the public to a special meeting to learn about the activities planned for that weekend including the traffic safety plan.

The meeting will take place on Thursday, April 3, 2014, at 7:00 p.m. in the lower level conference room at the Stafford Hospital, 101 Hospital Center Boulevard, Stafford, VA 22554.


The new Simulation Game Institute (SGI) at George Mason University’s Prince William Campus is setup to foster students’ creativity in game design at the same time it encourages them to establish companies that might ultimately find a home in Prince William County.

Christopher Ondrus, the Senior Projects Manager at the institute said the SGI helps students connect with a broader business audience seeking advanced simulation programs. “It’s an incubator for businesses that want to come in and make games based on their training or on things that they actually do, but they don’t know how to make games.”


OWL VFD, usually known for putting out fires and responding to 911 calls, put their hair on the line to raise funds for research to find new cures for childhood cancer. On March 8, 2013, Occoquan-Woodbridge-Lorton Volunteer Fire Department hosted their 9th Annual St. Baldrick’s Event. With 61 heads shaved, OWL VFD raised more than $40,000 and still counting, exceeding last year’s efforts by at least $9,000 dollars.

“A bald head to give a kid with cancer a chance for a cure? Absolutely! It gets a bit cold, but I am happy to help,” says Firefighter Ernest DeSantis.


Weather permitting, portions of the 495 Express Lanes will be closed overnight on Sunday, March 23 and Monday, March 24 for asphalt patching work. The following closures will be in effect:

Sunday, March 23 at 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Monday, March 24:


MANASSAS, VA — Novant Health celebrated Certified Nurses Day on Wednesday, March 19th, by honoring its 109 board certified nurses. The following nurses are being recognized for their professionalism, leadership and commitment to excellence in patient care:

Certification in Critical Care Nursing (CCRN): Julia Burgess, RN; Rene Ernest, RN; Jan Griffin, RN; Sarah Herbert, RN ; Katie Hoffman, RN; Darcy Jenkins, RN; Janet Moore, RN; Oi- Mei Yau, RN; Alicia Marie Ruiz, RN; Carlos Bernal, RN; Deana Coy, RN; Jacinta Gomes, RN; Donna Rea, RN; Jamie Stern, RN; William “Topper” Cramer, RN; Sondra Abraham, RN; Darryl Hampton, RN; Regina Cullen, RN; Tammy Rogers, RN; Umu Benjamin, RN; Erika Wimbish, RN; Hilary Woodier, RN; Mar Tortajada, RN


Sewer mains get damaged in a number of ways, including the intrusion of tree roots and the internal deterioration of the line due to grease, oils and other corrosive substances.

When mains are damaged, heavy rains can cause infiltration of groundwater into the sewer system. In the worst case scenario, it can cause a backup into a home or business.


A certificate program offered through an educational alliance between Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) and La Cocina VA, a nonprofit organization that generates workforce and economic development, will allow unemployed Hispanics to obtain skills in the food service industry and improve their employment opportunities.

La Cocina VA and NOVA recognize the additional challenges that the 2.2 million unemployed members of Hispanic communities often face in job attainment, such as low English proficiency and lack of access to training programs. Frequently, occupational training programs are not targeted toward groups who have limited English skills or low educational attainment. This further prevents Hispanic immigrants from gaining the skills they need to obtain a sustainable income and pursue a growing career path.


April is Litter Awareness Month in Prince William County, which means that it’s officially time for spring cleaning to begin. There are several events planned throughout the month to help bring attention to the “dirty” topic of litter, which does not get much attention throughout the year.

“Litter looks bad,” said Prince William County Solid Waste Division Chief Thomas Smith. “If you’re jogging, riding a bike or walking, and you see litter, it just gives you a bad feeling. It gets into our lakes and our streams; and it affects animals and fish in our habitats. It’s just bad, not only for our community, but for our environment, as well.”


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