Westminster-Canterbury helps ForKids

 

Westminster-Canterbury

Feeds Kids in the Community

Bob Heely, VP Dev. & Community Relations

Homework is a lot easier when you know that a hot meal is going to follow!  That’s the idea behind “Hot Meals & Homework,” a program offered by ForKids, a local organization dedicated to breaking the cycle of homelessness and poverty for families and children. 

To show its support of the program, one evening each month, Westminster-Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay provides five meals for six families or a total of 30 meals packaged directly from our kitchen.  The meals are picked up by the ForKids team and delivered to one of their shelters. The Westminster-Canterbury Foundation reimburses W-C catering for the preparation of the food.

ForKids was started twenty years ago in the Ocean View neighborhood of Norfolk and now operates five residential programs providing emergency shelter stay for up to four months for homeless families and children.  During their stay the families receive critical clinical care, job counseling and tutoring.  As a result of a referral from one of our residents several years ago,  W-C got involved in the “Hot Meals & Homework” program. This is just another way that our W-C Ministry serves people in Hampton Roads.  Thank you for supporting your WCCB Foundation.

News about our Medical Director, Dr. Daniel Bluestein

Bluestein Named Top Doc!

By Jan Warren

            Dr. Daniel A. Bluestein, medical director at Westminster Canterbury, has been named one of America's Top Docs by U.S. News and World Report.

Recommendations for the honor come from peer physicians and then are reviewed by physician-led teams at Castle Connolly Medical Ltd., publisher of the guide "America's Top Doctors." Only those who meet the selection criteria make the list of physicians ranked in the top 10% of their specialties.

Sixty-seven physicians associated with EVMS share the honor with Dr. Bluestein, who is also Medical Director of the Geriatrics Division of the Department of Family and Community Medicine.

Dr. Bluestein has been at Westminster-Canterbury since 2002 and said “The award is fun but should not be taken too seriously. I never would have been considered for it if not for the support of my colleagues at EVMS and the second-to-none staff and healthcare team here at WC.”

He acknowledges that "geriatrics isn't the most sought after specialty" and considers it part of his job to encourage medical students and other physicians and health professionals to develop competence and enthusiasm for the treatment of older adults.

When EVMS students come to the WC clinic for training, he says it serves as a catalyst in developing their interest in geriatrics.

''The vitality of this community breaks down some of the old stereotypes of traditional retirement facilities."

He hopes, in the future, that the Westminster-Canterbury clinic can be more active as a train­ the- trainer facility through both EVMS and The Virginian Geriatric Education Center, a five-year funded initiative (now refunded for its second five years) that provides geriatric training for health professionals state-wide.

Dr. Bluestein is a native of Palmer, Massachusetts. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago and the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He completed his residency in Family Medicine at the University of Maryland Hospital and his fellowship at the University of Iowa In 1992.  Influenced by his involvement in the care of his own aging parents, he made what he describes as "a classic mid- career transition" and decided to get his board certification in Geriatrics.