News Flash

Oct. 2, 2023 — The Hampton Fire Division accepted a grant this morning worth more than $300,000 from Sentara Health, which will be used to fund vehicles, equipment and other resources.

The $327,700 grant from the Sentara CARES program will support the fire division’s Mobile Integrated Healthcare and Community Paramedicine program. Lieutenant Paul Houde, who has developed and grown that program, was instrumental in securing the grant through his work to develop the partnership with Sentara.

Hampton Fire Chief Jason Monk accepted the ceremonial check at the Fire Division Training Center. The division had received the actual funding over the summer after the grant was approved by City Council.

“Putting in for this grant allows us to move the program much further,” Monk said. “It’s going to bolster what we’re doing here. Without this help, I’m not sure we would get much further than where we are already at.”

The Sentara CARES grant program provides funding to organizations and programs throughout the region that improve health care and health equity to all members of the community. Last year, Sentara provided more than $10 million in grants throughout the community, and this spring alone the company gave $5.3 million in grants to 137 organizations in Virginia and North Carolina. Overall, Sentara Health invested more than $260 million in the regional community last year.

Kapua Conley, Sentara Health’s regional president for the Peninsula, said the grant represents the company’s mutually beneficial partnership with Hampton.

“We are very interested in integrated paramedicine and what it means to the community,” Conley said. “This is a way to do right by our community and make sure people get the care that they need. This will be a game changer because it will help reach patients where they’re at, and to intervene before it becomes a crisis situation.”