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Arlington health care workers need your help getting to their hospital

D.C.-area road crews are making big strides clearing the streets from the recent snow, but some health care workers need a helping hand to get to their hospital.

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VHC Health in Arlington, Virginia, is asking for volunteers to pick up physicians, nurses and other health care workers at their homes and bring them in. Melody Dickerson, senior vice president of hospital operations at VHC Health, said since the call went out for help over the weekend, about 10 drivers have volunteered, bringing over 50 employees to the hospital.

“It’s been an incredible help to get these employees in safely and the staff are truly grateful,” she said.

She said anyone can help by providing a little information: “A copy of their driver’s license and proof of insurance, and then once we have all that, we’ll get their hours of availability and connect them with employees,” Dickerson told WTOP.

Heart attacks, hypothermia, frost bite and other weather-related issues rise when heavy snow falls, taking a toll on hospital workers, and Dickerson said volunteering this way relives some of that burden on health care workers.

“If you’re that person that’s really not comfortable navigating the streets when the weather is like this, your road hasn’t been cleared or what not, the peace of mind that they can get to work safely is just one less thing that have to think about,” she said.

If you want to volunteer, you can call the VHC Health command center at 703-558-5000 or email at commandcenter@vhchealth.com.

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