Category Archives: Ascension

UPDATED with audience award winners. The Tribeca Festival has announced its Audience Award winners: Catch the Fair One for Best Narrative Feature, Blind Ambition for Best Documentary Feature and Ferguson Rises for Best Online Feature. The winners of the narrative and documentary categories will receive a cash prize of $10,000.

Tribecas 20th edition wrapped up on Sunday.

PREVIOUSLY: Lauren Hadaways The Novice, about a queer college freshman who joins her universitys rowing team and undertakes an obsessive physical and psychological journey to make it to the top boat, has won the Best U.S. Narrative Feature Film prize at the Tribeca Festival.

Star Isabelle Furman won the best actress prize, and Todd Martin took cinematography honors for the film, the first feature for Hadaway, a former competitive rower.

Related StoryBlisters And Betrayal: The Novice Explores Obsession Through College Rowing Tribeca Studio

Brighton 4th, directed by Levan Koguashvili, won the fests Best International Narrative Feature Film prize, taking that honor as well as best actor for Levan Tediashvili and screenplay for Boris Frumin. Ascension, directed by Jessica Kingdon, won the top Documentary prize, while Kingdon also won the Albert Maysles Award for Best New Documentary Director.

Competition awards were given in Tribecas U.S. Narrative, International Narrative, Documentary, Short Films, Immersive and the first-ever Podcast and Games categories.

Second Place for Best Narrative Feature went to Last Film Show, written and directed by Pan Nalin.

The fest on Thursday also bestowed its annual Nora Ephron Award to Chanel James and Taylor Garron for As of Yet. The award, which includes a $25,000 prize, honors excellence in storytelling by a female writer or director embodying the spirit and boldness of the late filmmaker.

Heres the winners list:

AUDIENCE AWARDS

NarrativeCatch the Fair One, directed and written by Josef Kubota WladykaProduced by Mollye Asher, Kimberly Parker, Josef Kubota Wladyka

DocumentaryBlind Ambition, directed by Robert Coe and Warwick Ross, written by Warwick Ross, Robert Coe, Paul Murphy, Madeleine RossProduced by Warwick Ross and Robert Coe

U.S. NARRATIVE COMPETITION

The Founders Award for Best Feature FilmThe Novice, directed and written by Lauren HadawayProduced by Ryan Hawkins, Kari Hollend, Steven Sims, Zack Zucker

Best ActressIsabelle Furman, The Novice, directed and written by Lauren HadawayProduced by Ryan Hawkins, Kari Hollend, Steven Sims, Zack Zucker

Special Jury Mention: Kali Reis, Catch The Fair One

Best ActorMatthew Leone, Gods Waiting Room, directed and written by Tyler RiggsProduced by Tyler Riggs, Suvi Riggs

Best CinematographyTodd Martin, The Novice, directed and written by Lauren HadawayProduced by Ryan Hawkins, Kari Hollend, Steven Sims, Zack Zucker

Best ScreenplayHannah Marks, Mark, Mary, and Some Other People, directed and written by Hannah MarksProduced by Hannah Marks, Pete Williams, Jon Lullo, Brendan Walter, Jonathan Duffy, Kelly Williams, Stephen Braun

Special Jury Prize for Artistic ExpressionDirector Nana Mensah,Queen of Glory

INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE COMPETITION

Best Feature FilmBrighton 4th, directed by Levan Koguashvili, written by Boris Frumin, Levan KoguashviliProduced by Irakli Rodonaya, Olena Yershova, Michel Merkt, Kateryna Merkt

Best ActressBassant Ahmed & Basmala Elghaiesh, Souad, directed by Ayten Amin, written by Mahmoud Ezzat, Ayten Amin. Produced by Sameh Awad.

Best ActorLevan Tediashvili, Brighton 4th, directed by Levan Koguashvili, written by Boris Frumin, Levan Koguashvili. Produced by Irakli Rodonaya, Olena Yershova, Michel Merkt, Kateryna Merkt.

Best CinematographyElisabeth Vogler, Roaring 20s, directed by Elisabeth Vogler, written by Franois Mark, Elisabeth Vogler, Nomie Schmidt, Joris Avodo. Produced by Laurent Rochette.

Best ScreenplayBoris Frumin, Brighton 4th, directed by Levan Koguashvili, written by Boris Frumin, Levan KoguashviliProduced by Irakli Rodonaya, Olena Yershova, Michel Merkt, Kateryna Merkt

Special Jury Mention: Cast ensemble ofRoaring 20s

Best New Narrative DirectorNana Mensah, Queen of Glory, directed and written by Nana MensahProduced by Jamund Washington, Kelley Robins Hicks, Baff Akoto, Nana Mensah, Anya Migdal

Special Jury Mention: Mack Fisher, Cinematographer ofGods Waiting Room

DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

Best FeatureAscension, directed by Jessica KingdonProduced by Kira Simon-Kennedy, Jessica Kingdon, Nathan Truesdell

Best EditingShannon Swan, The Kids, directed by Eddie MartinProduced by Shannon Swan

Best CinematographyBing Liu & Joshua Altman, All These Sons, directed by Bing Liu, Joshua AltmanProduced by Zak Piper, Kelsey Carr, Bing Liu, Joshua Altman

2021 Albert Maysles Award for Best New Documentary DirectorJessica Kingdon, Ascension, directed by Jessica KingdonProduced by Kira Simon-Kennedy, Jessica Kingdon, Nathan Truesdell

Special Jury Mention:The Neutral Grounddirected by CJ Hunt

NORA EPHRON AWARD

Chanel James & Taylor Garron, As of Yet, directed by Chanel James, Taylor GarronProduced by Ashley Edouard, Taylor Garron

SHORT CATEGORIES

Best Narrative ShortRongfei Guo, Girl With a Thermal Gun, directed and written by Rongfei GuoProduced by Du Yating

Special Jury Mention: Leylak

Best Animated ShortReza Riahi, Navozande, The Musician, directed and written by Reza RiahiProduced by Eleanor Coleman, Stphanie Carreras, Philippe Pujo

Special Jury Mention: Dirty Little Secret,directed by Jeff Scher, andTry To Fly, directed by The Affolter Brothers

Short Documentary AwardRyan White, Coded, directed by Ryan WhiteProduced by Christopher Leggett, Jessica Hargrave, Conor Fetting-Smith, Rafael Marmor, Marc Gilbar

Student Visionary AwardRobert Brogden, Six Nights, directed and written by Robert BrogdenProduced by Robert Brogden, Kelley Zincone, Izrael Lopez

PODCAST AWARD

Non-FictionHouse of Pod and Wild Bird Trust, Guardians of the River

FictionJames Kim and Brooke Iskra, Vermont Ave.

Special Jury Mention: Brooklyn Santa

TRIBECA X AWARD

Best FeatureDear Santa, Director: Dana Nachman; Brand: The United States Postal Service

Best EpisodicBlack Owned, Director: Rodney Lucas; Brand: Square

Best ShortChinese New Year-Nian, Director: Lulu Wang; Brand: Apple

ImmersiveCurrent, Creator: Annie Saunders; Brand: Brookfield Properties

GAMES

2021 Games AwardNorco, from Geography of Robots, published by Raw Fury

IMMERSIVE COMPETITION CATEGORIES

Best Immersive Narrative Competition AwardMichle Stephenson, Joe Brewster, Yasmin Elayat, The Changing Same: Episode 1

Best Creative Nonfiction Competition AwardAnnie Saunders, Current

Storyscapes AwardFelix Gaedtke, Gayatri Parameswaran, Kusunda

See the rest here:

Tribeca Festival Winners: Catch The Fair One And Blind Ambition Nab Audience Awards, Joining Juried Nods For The Novice, Brighton 4th, Ascension -...

The Tribeca Film Festival, which was the first major film festival to hold in-person screenings and live events since Sundance 2020, celebrated its 20th anniversary

Founded in the wake of 9/11, Tribeca Festival celebrated its 20th anniversary as the cinephiles of New York emerged from the shadow of a pandemic. It was the first major film festival to hold in-person screenings and live events since Sundance last year.

Fortunately, for those who couldnt possibly make it in-person, the festival also offered at-home online screenings. Unfortunately though, not all films like the Warner Bros titles In the Heights and No Sudden Move decided to participate in the virtual leg.

Indeed, one doesnt really attend Tribeca or Sundance for the big studio fodder, but to identify the new voices and talent in independent filmmaking. Tribeca again championed a fresh batch of storytellers, giving them a conduit to have their films seen by the widest possible demographic. The festival truly stretched its format by adding video games to the official selections for the first time this year, going beyond the norm of traditional film festivals. To embrace this evolution, it dropped the film from Tribeca Film Festival.

We only had access to the films, which ranged from the mostly watchable to the mostly forgettable with the odd gem thrown in. Now that the festival is concluded and with it the feeding frenzy, we weeded through the mixed bag to bring you the films to watch out for.

Ascension (dir. Jessica Kingdon)

Ascension - Tribeca 2021

The meaning of the word Orwellian may be overused and overstretched nowadays, but its really the most fitting descriptor for Jessica Kingdonsabsurdist portrait of contemporary China as the worlds factory. How else would you describe these everyday scenes from the film? The compliant working-class sort out used plastic bottles and assemble busty sex dolls like impassive humanoids themselves. The go-getters attend seminars on how to become influencers and butlers to better serve Chinas rising upper class. Each one of them have been conditioned to believe they are a vital cog in the China machine. Kingdon offers a fly-on-the-wall perspective of this structured and standardised ecosystem through the lens of consumerism. The tone echoes that of a sci-fi comedy, as its vignettes unfold with a strikingly absurd sense of humour.

as of yet (dir. Chanel James, Taylor Garron)

as of yet - Tribeca 2021

Writer/co-director/star Taylor Garrons confessional comedy tries to process what the isolation has done to our social lives. Single, alone and jobless, Garrons 20-something Brooklynite Naomi funds her lockdown life with unemployment checks. To counteract the enormous disruption, she establishes a daily routine of sorts: FaceTiming with family and holding virtual happy hour with friends. Shes also been chatting with a guy named Reed (Amir Khan), and considers breaking quarantine to meet him. Only, her white roommate Sara, whos gone home to Florida, isnt too happy about it, even though she herself has been guilty of doing it. Worse, Sara is tone-deaf. In what has to be the white girl summer moment, she bemoans the Black Lives Matters protests turning violent, asking: Do you have to destroy Target to make a point? Naomi is forced to reassess her friendship with someone who not only invalidates her struggles, but must be constantly educated on the plight of being a Black woman in America. A confident debut from an emerging talent, as of yet is a refreshing take on lockdown life and singlehood.

All My Friends Hate Me (dir. Andrew Gaynord)

All My Friends Hate Me - Tribeca 2021

College reunion doesnt go according to plan for Pete (Tom Stourton), an insecure man who hopes conversations and camaraderie will get picked up from where they were left off. When old flames and friends dont treat him the way he expects them to and a mysterious outsider overshadows him as the life of the party, Pete falls prey to paranoia in Andrew Gaynords anxiety-inducing film. Ostensibly a comedy, All My Friends Hate Me packs in packs in more than laughs, using psychological thriller grammar to maintain a tense rhythm throughout. Passive-aggressive mixed messages turn Pete into a ticking bomb of a panic attack, replicating the same feeling in the viewers watching too. The whole thing is held together tightly with that distinctly British razor-sharp wit.

The Novice (dir. Lauren Hadaway)

The Novice - Tribeca 2021

Isabelle Fuhrman stuns as Alex Dall, a young woman trying to rise up the ranks in her college rowing team. With Alexs mad obsession for perfection coming at great personal cost, comparisons to Whiplash will be inevitable. But Lauren Hadaway offers an equally punishing psychodrama. For obsession here becomes atmospheric. Alex is defined and driven by compulsive pursuits, majoring in physics only because its one of her weaker subjects. She wants to be the best in a sport she doesnt have a natural talent or strength for. Her quest thus demands extreme physical and mental toil, requiring her to practice until she is sweaty and bloody. As she finds herself pitted against another rowing novice, her obsession begins to enter the psychosis phase. And Fuhrman sinks her teeth into the role chillingly, turning The Novice into a riveting allegory for unchecked ambition.

The Lost Leonardo (dir. Andreas Koefoed)

The Lost Leonardo - Tribeca 2021

Thought to be the last known Leonardo da Vinci painting, Salvator Mundi comes with the sort of sordid history of changing hands that makes for a gripping film. Danish filmmaker Andreas Koefoed offers us a functional, if not revelatory, documentary on the inner workings of the art world, now a money-grubbing industry made up of dealers, auction houses, Russian oligarchs and Saudi Crown Princes. Testimonies from sceptics, believers, journalists, patrons and collectors chronicle how the painting of Jesus bought for $1,175 at a New Orleans auction house went on to be sold for a record $450 million to a mysterious buyer (later revealed to be Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman). The fact that the painting is collecting dust in some luxury yacht or some Geneva tax-free storage facility instead of a museum for everyone to see tells you everything you need to know about the modern art industry.

Other highlights: Catch the Fair One, Last Film Show, Poser, Queen of Glory, The Justice of Bunny King

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Tribeca 2021 highlights: Best films from this years virtual festival, from Ascension to The Novice - Firstpost

Special to The Weekly Citizen| Gonzales Weekly Citizen

Robert E. (Bob) Grounds and Judy Huston Grounds are celebrating 50 years of marriage. After a lovely backyard wedding on June 12, 1971 in Hobbs, New Mexico, Bob and Judy relocated to Donaldsonville for Bobs job at Shells Capline Pipeline at St. James - and have called Louisiana home ever since. Judy taught physical education at Ascension Catholic Middle School where she was known for her no-nonsense teaching and coaching style.Judy used those talents to found Judys School of Gymnastics a few years later.

In the late 70s, Bob & Judy moved across the river to St. Amant with their daughters Michelle and Alison. Judy expanded and relocated her gymnastics school to a new 6,000 square foot facility at the corner of Rouyea and Cantee roads that Bob the Builder helped to construct and maintain. Michelle began coaching with Judy shortly thereafter. In 1996, Judy expanded her business again to an expansive multi-purpose childrens activity center, AIM, located on Airline Highway in Prairieville. Throughout their careers, Judy and Michelle coached many talented gymnasts who went on to become collegiate athletes, coaches, teachers, and community leaders. After Judy retired, Michelle continued Judys legacy as the Managing Director of AIM and Bob the Builder continued his role as lead handy man.

Bob worked for Shell in various roles until the mid-90s when he retired to pursue his dream of being a professional golfer. After playing on the Heartland Players Senior Tour for many years, Bob returned to amateur status. At over 80 years young, Bob proudly still shoots below his age. True partners in life, business, and love, Bob & Judys marriage continues to be one of mutual support filled with boat rides, crafting (for Judy), golfing (for Bob), visiting friends and family, dancing, and laughing.

Congratulations! Love, Your Family

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Grounds 50th anniversary - Post South

From HCA Healthcare teaming up with Google Cloud to build healthcare algorithms to Amazon Care, Intermountain and Ascension's joint home care coalition, the first half of 2021 has recorded several new partnerships between Big Tech and healthcare providers.

Here are 38 healthcare partnerships with tech companies Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft that Becker's Hospital Review has reported on so far in 2021.

January

1. The Oklahoma State Department of Health teamed up with Microsoft to build a mobile app that informs people when they are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine and helps them sign up for appointments.

2. Los Angeles County partnered with health startup Healthvana to roll out a digital offering that allows residents to store records of their COVID-19 vaccination in Apple Wallet or on a similar Google platform.

3. Clearwater, Fla.-based BayCare Health System began deploying Amazon Alexa devices in 2,500 rooms across its 14 hospitals.

4. The Department of Veterans Affairs launched an initiative with Fitbit to provide 10,000 veterans, caregivers and VA staff with free memberships to Fitbit's digital health services.

5. Google sister company Verily inked an agreement with Microsoft to run its biomedical research platform on Microsoft's Azure cloud platform.

6. Apple and Cambridge, Mass.-based neurological therapies company Biogen partnered on a research project to analyze how the Apple Watch and iPhone could help monitor cognitive health.

7. Big Tech companies and major hospitals teamed up to form the Vaccination Credential Initiative, a collective working to create a digital, interoperable vaccination record system. Some of the partners working on the project include Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic, Microsoft, Epic, Cerner, Salesforce, Change Healthcare and Oracle.

February

8. Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente began working with IT services company Accenture and Microsoft to transition to the tech giant's Azure cloud platform.

9. Minneapolis-based University of Minnesota partnered with Google Cloud to create an education program for students pursuing healthcare careers.

10. Google announced plans to open its first office in Minnesota as part of its partnership with Rochester-based Mayo Clinic.

11. Google Cloud integrated its machine learning technology into the cervical cancer diagnostic screening system of Marlborough, Mass.-based medical technology company Hologic.

12. Humana started piloting a new chronic care management program, which will use Salesforce Health Cloud and Microsoft's Azure and Power BI cloud technologies.

13. Apple inked a collaboration with University Health Network in Toronto to test if Apple Watch monitoring can detect early signs of heart failure.

March

14. Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh developed a new machine learning tool to use in clinical forecasting, which Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure funded.

15. Intermountain Healthcare, Ascension and Amazon Care became founding members of a new healthcare coalition aimed at expanding home-based clinical care.

16. Google and St. Louis-based Ascension continued their 2018 collaboration by rolling out a tool to help clinicians better organize and search for patient information.

17. Apple updated Apple Maps with a vaccine availability and locator tool developed by the CDC and Boston Children's Hospital.

18. Highmark Health, the parent company of Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network, expanded its tech partnership with Google Cloud through a new six-year collaboration with the tech giant's sister company, Verily.

19. Apple partnered with the University of Michigan School of Public Health to test hearing health and noise exposure using Apple's Noise app, which measures noise levels and alerts users when a noise may be dangerous to their hearing.

20. Apple and Harvard University teamed up to conduct a large-scale study on menstruation symptoms with the goal of advancing science around and destigmatizing menstruation.

April

21. Verily, Google's sister company, teamed up with Atlanta-based Morehouse College to provide scholarships to students interested in STEM with the goal to create an institutional link between historically underrepresented students and the biotech and life sciences industry.

22. New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health expanded a program to equip COVID-19 patients' rooms with Amazon Echo Show devices, which feature two-way video calling capabilities that let clinicians check on patients.

23. UPMC and Advocate Aurora Health became the two latest health systems to join Moving Health Home, a new healthcare coalition founded by Amazon Care, Intermountain and Ascension.

24. Boston-based Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center joined the pilot of the Google-developed EHR search tool, which aims to help clinicians better organize and scan for patient information.

25. Apple partnered with researchers from Seattle-based University of Washington and Seattle Flu Study to test if the Apple Watch or iPhone can be used to predict COVID-19.

May

26. Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System partnered with Google Cloud and Miracle Software Systems to launch an international competition in Detroit to propose ideas for reducing health inequalities through technology.

27. University Park, Pa.-based Penn State College of Medicine built an Amazon Alexa skill to deliver care interventions to breast cancer patients in their own homes.

28. Amwell unveiled its new Converge telehealth platform, which can host and operate digital offerings from Cleveland Clinic, Google Cloud and others.

29. Amazon Care, the e-commerce giant's new healthcare venture, signed its first enterprise client: Precor, a fitness company recently acquired by Peloton.

30. Google and Chicago-based Northwestern Medicine teamed up to develop an artificial intelligence tool to support clinician work by triaging mammography patients.

31. The University of Washington partnered with Microsoft and the Creative Destruction Lab, a nonprofit science and tech program, to launch a collaborative focused on artificial intelligence and biomedical innovations.

32. UPMC Health Plan rolled out a tool that lets members learn more about their benefits and health insurance topics by voicing questions to Amazon Alexa and Google Home Assistant devices.

33. While Microsoft's $19.7 billion acquisition of speech recognition company Nuance Communications is poised to increase its healthcare footprint, the tech giant's top cloud official told CNBC it is not interested in automating everything physicians do.

34. The Atlanta-based Morehouse School of Medicine launched its Health Equity Tracker, a Google.org-funded data platform showing the disparate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on people of color and those with a lower socioeconomic status.

35. HCA Healthcare inked a multiyear collaboration with Google Cloud focused on building a health data analytics platform to support the Nashville, Tenn.-based system's clinical and operational workflows.

June

36. Cerner, Meditech and Athenahealth teamed up with Apple to support the tech giant's new health data sharing feature, which is slated to become available this fall.

37. Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic joined Apple's Health Records project, which gives patients access to their medical records directly from their iPhone.

38. Boston Children's Hospital, Google and Ariadne Labs launched a new interactive, data-driven vaccine equity planning tool to help officials locate "vaccine deserts," or places with limited access to COVID-19 vaccines.

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38 Big Tech partnerships in healthcare this year: Amazon, Google & more - Becker's Hospital Review

The News Herald/USA TODAY NETWORK| The News Herald

PANAMA CITY BEACH A woman is dead and her husband is in a hospital after they were pulled from the Gulf while in distress on Tuesday.

According to a Panama City Beach press release, Amber Peardon, 37, was taken to Ascension Sacred Hearts emergency room at the Beach, where she died soon afterward. Her husband, Coty Peardon, 32, was taken to Ascension Sacred Heart Bay hospital in Panama City. The couple was visiting from Moss Point, Mississippi.

Panama City B: 7 people rescued from Panama City Beach Gulf waters as Tropical Storm Claudette raged

The press release states the incident occurred about 3 p.m. near Long Beach Resort. Panama City Beach police officers responded to the resort after emergency calls ofpeople in distress in the water. Upon arrival, officers found a crowd gathered by the edge of the water.

Panama City Beach Fire Rescue personnel entered the water, pulled the couple to shore and began performing CPR on both of them.

PCB was under a double-red flag warning on Tuesday, meaning the currents were so dangerous that Gulf waters were closed to swimmers under penalty of fine or arrest.

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Wife dead, husband in hospital after being pulled from Gulf in Panama City Beach - The News Herald

After encouraging patients to get vaccinated against COVID-19 for more than six months, eight hospital executives share the message they think has been most effective during their vaccination campaign.

Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and style.

Paul Wood. Vice President and Chief Communications Officer at UPMC (Pittsburgh). Throughout the pandemic, UPMC held 30 press briefings to ensure that our communities had timely, accurate information about COVID-19, vaccines and treatments like monoclonal antibodies, which serves to establish UPMC as the "source of truth" in the many regions we serve. With the vaccine rollout, UPMC has focused in every communications channel on a message of safety, accessibility for all, and trust with our clinicians, other employees and patients explaining the benefits of this miracle of modern science.

Shiva Bidar-Sielaff. Chief Diversity Officer at UW Health (Madison, Wis.). In the days before any vaccines received an emergency use authorization, UW Health was working on plans to reach our local Latinx community. We prioritized Latinx individuals within those early eligible populations. We crafted straight-forward, direct messages about the safety and the effectiveness of the vaccines. But we knew from the beginning that was not going to be enough.

Vaccines need to be offered in clinics and locations that are known and trusted within the community, not just our larger hospitals and clinics. Early on, we operationalized a smaller clinic serving many of our Latinx patients to administer the vaccine. We worked with community groups such as the Latino Health Council of Dane County, the Wisconsin Latino Chamber of Commerce and Centro Hispano of Dane County to schedule vaccination days at this well-known and trusted clinic for the Latinx community. Just as important as location is having a trusted messenger. In addition to our partnerships with Latinx community groups, we worked with one of UW Healths Latinx primary care physicians, Dr. Patricia Tllez-Girn, to deliver multimedia messages to the community in Spanish.

This multi-layered approach to vaccine messaging and outreach has produced positive results. Dane County has one of the nations highest rates of vaccination in the Latinx community, in part because we grounded our campaign firmly in the community.

Nick Ragone. Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Ascension (St. Louis). At Ascension, we have encouraged our patients and our communities to protect their families and ours by getting the COVID-19 vaccine when it became available to them. Our most powerful and effective messaging has focused on the safety of our working environments, the safety of our patient care, the safety of each other and the safety of our communities protecting your family and ours.

Our marketing and communications team leveraged the trusted voices and testimonials of our vaccinated associates and patients to spread the word about their experience and their personal circumstances through news articles, social media and word-of-mouth marketing to appeal to others who might be hesitating. In addition, we emphasized the need to consult with their physician at Ascension sites of care near them.

Ashley OBrien. Clinical Communications Director at Intermountain Healthcare (Salt Lake City). Intermountain Healthcares most influential messaging on COVID-19 vaccines was around emphasizing that our system and caregivers are here for our patients and communities, that weve been involved at a state and national level in vaccine rollout programs, and that were making it convenient to get vaccinated and easy to access information about it. We support informed decisions about this preventive behavior for patients and families, and emphasize that vaccines are safe, effective and provide protection from disease and peace of mind.

Kary McIlwain. Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Childrens Hospital of Chicago. Our most effective message was to ask faculty and staff to lead the way and be the example for the community. In addition, we had peers assigned to address concerns for work groups like environmental services, security and food services through face-to-face Q&A sessions. We have FAQs and fact sheets in English and Spanish as well to make certain we were inclusive in our approach.

Suzanne Bharati Hendery. Chief Marketing and Customer Officer at Renown Health (Reno, Nev.). We delivered many messages of hope, determination and safety education through Renowns vaccination campaign. However the message that resonated with our community is that we cared so much about their health and safety, that we didnt leave it to the public health officials alone.

We stepped up and demonstrated our commitment. Hundreds of our care providers donned purple Renown scrubs and volunteered thousands of hours to personally provide 80,000 vaccinations to our community members in a drive-thru vaccine clinic that operated for months. This allowed us to vaccinate twice as many people in half the time. That is what will be remembered.

Jennifer Gilkie. Vice President of Communications & Marketing at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health (Lebanon, N.H.). The COVID-19 pandemic has been such an isolating time for so many of us. More than anything, we wanted our community to understand that vaccines offer hope hope for a return to normalcy, time spent with loved ones, no fear of spreading illness and a better future. Our "There's Hope Inside" vaccine campaign has been wonderfully effective at promoting the idea that hope is not lost; that through embracing science, research and medicine, we can and will be able to safely return to the lives we loved, and hopefully with a new appreciation not only for all the work that is going into ending this pandemic, but for all the small but meaningful things we once took for granted.

Melinda Karp. Senior Vice President of Consumer Partnership at Commonwealth Care Alliance (Boston).For Commonwealth Care Alliance, there wasn't one message that carried the day, but rather a focus on providing as much education as possible to our members who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid and have significant medical, behavioral health and social needs. CCA members are high-risk for COVID-19 complications, not only because of their health needs but because many face other unique challengessuch as being homebound, having language barriers and lacking a strong social support system.

Through phone calls, telehealth visits, person-to-person outreach and digital content, we shared the facts and resources our members needed to understand the importance of the COVID-19 vaccine to their overall wellbeing. Due to the complexity of CCA members needs, CCA ensured all resources were made accessible by eliminating language barriers and using multiple channels and outreach methods to proactively engage and problem-solve with every member. This messaging approach worked: 25,056 CCA members, or about 60 percent, have been fully vaccinated.

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8 hospital execs share their vaccine campaign's most effective message - Becker's Hospital Review

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) Ascension is eliminating on-site jobs in Indiana and outsourcing them to a contactor based in India instead.

A few of the now former employees told I-Team 8 they were asked to train their replacements.

Monty Teague was a supervisor in the IT department at Ascension St. Vincent Hospital on the north side of Indianapolis. Patients never saw his department, but doctors, nurses and other health care professionals relied on him to do their jobs.

Weknew we were not doctors, but I always told my guys that we were like the guys in the engine room and we are keeping that ship running. We are making those patients able to be fixed. We are giving the doctors the support they need. We will never be seen, but we are the underneath foundation that is running theship,Teague said.

Teague says he was told Ascension was outsourcing or eliminating most of the on-site IT positions at the hospital. As a manager, it was his job to tell his team the news.

[It]is one of the hardest things there is to do, Teague said. You havent done anything wrong but your job is gone.Ihad to do that in the very first round and then they got me, my boss did the same tome. Its justsad.

According topubliclyavailable company financial statements, their bottom line has taken a hit during the pandemic. Marty Pieratt of Indiana Universitys Kelley School of Business says companies looking to cut costs go after salaries first.

I thinkpoliticians liketo say, We have the jobs all coming back here, but the truth is,I think they are still going andIthink they still will go. When anybody thinksof wherethey are going to save money on their bottom line and look better on their financial statements, the quickest, easiest is taking people off the payroll Pieratt said.

Teague says more cuts to the IT staff are coming later this summer. He understands sometimes hard decisions have to be made, but he expected a different approach working for a catholic hospital.

Weused to call them ministries. That is what you called them, ministries, instead of hospitals. And the reason is because you wereministeringto the sick and poor and part of that ministry is to bring them into theChristianfamily. And that is totally gone now. They are not ministries; they are for profit for a few people at thetop, he said.

I-Team 8 reached out to Ascension several times for anexplanationon why they choose to outsource thesepositions. The company never responded to phone calls or emails.

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Layoffs hit Ascension Health, former employees want to know why - WISHTV.com

ASCENSION The waterline is finally falling after two weeks of stagnant flooding, but it's not dropping fast enough to ease the fears of people in parts of Ascension Parish.

Along Ridge Rd., water still lingers near homes.

One of the homes still facing water is one belonging to David Braud. It took on water in the May 17 deluge. Water rose and stuck around for days. He even had to start cleaning out his home while there was still water inside.

I saw when it was going to stop rising and I cut the sheetrock and started taking the floor out, said Braud.

There is still water filling his backyard, but Braud has seen the water level off and now, begin to fall. The parish is operating seven pumps on Alligator Bayou Road and cut the road at Fish Bayou to drain the Spanish Lake and Bluff Swamp basin last week.

It definitely helps, but there is still a lot of water in this swamp, Braud said.

And, with more rain in the forecast, Braud is worried.

Yeah, Im going to worry because if it rains enough, [the parish] is going to close those cuts and if Bayou Manchac gets high [the water] will come back in here, said David Braud.

Parish work crews are stationed near the cut on Alligator Bayou in case they need to backfill the road. The parish plans to build a permanent flood structure with a lock and gate system.

Tuesday, the parish said in a statement, the work is weather and water-level dependent, of course, but construction will begin in the foreseeable future.

I hope they can come up with a solution that can at least give us a little more peace of mind, said Braud.

Until then, Braud will continue working to clean out his home.

Were just living day by day. Itll be a while before we get back in the house but we have a place to stay and were going to make it, said Braud.

He and many others in his neighborhood are having to live at the mercy of Mother Nature.

There is a drainage meeting next week in Ascension. A group of homeowners who live on Range Rd. plan to attend to ask the parish to come up with more solutions to prevent future flooding.

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Homeowners seeing signs of hope but still concerned about prolonged flooding in Ascension - WBRZ

Donaldsonville celebrates Juneteenth

The Donaldsonville Music Festival Celebrating Freedom starts at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 5, at the Frank Sotile Pavilion. The musical lineup includes DJ Mario, DJ Thriller, Red Tape Musiq, Universal Language and the Michael Foster Project ends the day at 6 p.m.

At 4 p.m., the Little Miss Juneteenth, Miss and Teen Miss Juneteenth queens will be crowned.

The monthly USDA Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans Food for Seniors program will distribute 40-pound boxes of commodity for Ascension Parish over 60 Tuesday at St. Theresa of Avila Catholic Church Food Pantry's parking lot, 1022 N. Burnside Ave., Gonzales and Wednesday at the Frank Sotile Pavilion, 2162 Thibaut Drive, Donaldsvonille. Both distributions will be drive-thrus and the time is 7 a.m.-10 a.m. at both locations.

Seniors must be or will be at least 60 years old in June and meet federal income guidelines. New participants should bring Louisiana ID, income documentation and arrive no later than 9:30 am. Call toll free at (800) 522-3333 if you need more information or to verify your qualification.

Want to learn about amateur radio operations? The Ascension Amateur Radio Club will be participating in the national amateur radio Field Day exercise on June 2627 at Cabelas in Gonzales.

Since 1933, ham radio operators across North America have established temporary ham radio stations in public locations during Field Day to showcase the science and skill of amateur radio.

On June 26, the event is from noon to 9 p.m. and on June 27, from 8 a.m. to noon.

Ham radio functions completely independent of the internet or cellphone infrastructure, can interface with laptops or smartphones, and can be set up almost anywhere in minutes. Thats the beauty of amateur radio during a communications outage, says Elmer Tatum, N5EKF, of the Ascension Amateur Radio Club.

AARCs sole service agency is the Ascension Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.

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For more information about Field Day or amateur radio, contact aarc@k5arc.com or visit http://www.arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio.

Join the Ascension Parish library staff in Gonzales at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 12, for stories about Louisianas food culture with Poppy Tooker, author, food personality and radio host. Tooker, a New Orleans native, is passionate about Louisiana food and the people who bring it to the table. She has aa weekly NPR affiliated radio show, "Louisiana Eats!"

A book signing featuring several of her titles will follow the presentation.

Registration is required. Call (225) 647-3955 to register. Masks are recommended. Space may be limited.

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Around Ascension for June 2, 2021 | Ascension | theadvocate.com - The Advocate

With spring practices ending, that typically means the end of another school year. It certainly was not a typical spring practice setting for all our teams in the parish.

St Amant, Dutchtown, Ascension Christian and Ascension Catholic all chose to add an extra week to fall practice and not go through spring drills. Ascension Catholic has a new coach in longtime defensive coordinator Chris Schexnayder. Another big change will be the installation of turf fields in the parish, the fields are scheduled to be ready for late August.

The Donaldsonville Tigers ended spring practice with only four of the 10 days outside, due to heavy rains. That did not stop the Tigers from having a successful spring game against Livonia. Tiger head coach Brian Richardson was pleased with his teams performance.

We played a very physical game with Livonia, both teams ran the ball well and each team showed promise in the passing game, coach Richardson said.

Tiger standouts included senior quarterback Treveyon Brown, he will be starting for his third straight year and ran the offense with poise. Senior slot receiver Daimar Robinson led the team with all-purpose yards. The Tigers lose 1000-yard rusher Raeland Johnson, but return junior Robert Kent, who is an explosive player. Randell Oatis has some big runs and was the second-leading rusher.

Senior Jamarcus Miller led in receiving yards. Freshmen Blake Turner was a nice surprise carrying the ball for the Tigers. Sophomore Raiyen Oatis took some snaps at QB and had some long runs. The Tiger defense was led by Maliek Robertson and Lawrence Forcell.

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We need to tackle better, but Livonia had some really good backs. On offense, we need to continue to spread the ball around, sustain our blocks and execute, Richardson said.

The East Ascension Spartans wrapped up their spring drills with a 14-7 win over Denham Springs. Coach Darnell Lee returns a veteran team that is poised to go deep in the playoffs. According to Lee, his team practiced hard and must mature quickly due to an always-tough schedule. Standouts on the offense were running backs Walter Samuel and Jacorey Johnson.

One of the top athletes in the parish returns in Zhavier Jupiter. Tight end Jaquel Mack had a good spring catching and blocking. Quarterback Troy Dunn returns and has big-game experience.

Samuels has beefed up to 200 pounds and has gotten stronger. Johnson has been the surprise of camp. Our offensive line will be led by 6-6 tackle Jayven Richardson and guard/tackle Lajaden Jackson, said Lee said.

The Spartan defense returns a deep group led by Keith Thomas, who was a ballhawk at safety. The defensive line was led by Thomas Lee Jr., Alex Lambert and Sydney Joseph. The Spartans return arguably the best kicker in the parish in Evan Kern; he was perfect on his two extra points and just missed a 49-yard field goal.

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While some Ascension Parish football team skipped spring games, others test their teams - The Advocate