Manassas Fire & Rescue Leads Effort To Honor Nurses At Hospital

MANASSAS, VA — Members of the City of Manassas Fire and Rescue Department joined employees from other public safety agencies in the region Thursday afternoon to thank the staff of Novant UVA Prince William Medical Center during National Nurses Week.

Crews, wearing masks, gathered at the entrances of the hospital to flash their lights and display signs showing their appreciation for the medical workers. Emergency vehicles also paraded around the medical center's campus to honor the medical workers inside the building.

"For us to be able to come out and to be able to salute the heroes working in this building, it's really an honor for us," Manassas Fire Chief Rob Clemons said Thursday in a video statement.

The fire and rescue department gets a lot of credit for its response to helping and treating members of the community, Clemons said. But fire and rescue members could not protect the public "without our collaboration and partnership with the hospital," the fire chief said.

Todd Lupton, deputy fire and rescue chief for the City of Manassas, said the department felt it was appropriate "to recognize the nursing staff, the clinical staff and all the staff working here at Novant Medical Center during this time."

In the City of Manassas, 381 people have tested positive for the coronavirus and two people have died, according to the Virginia Department of Health. In neighboring Manassas Park, 120 people have tested positive and two people have died.

Prince William County has the second most positive cases of the coronavirus in Virginia, behind only Fairfax County. In the county, 2,740 people have tested positive and 48 people have died from COVID-19.

“We are humbled and honored by this display of support from our first-responder partners,” Stephen Smith, MD, president and chief operating officer, Novant Health UVA Health System Prince William Medical Center and Novant Health UVA Health System Haymarket Medical Center, said in a statement to Patch. “During this challenging time, our nurses and team members appreciated having the chance to pause and enjoy this display of lights from local police, fire and emergency medical services.”

Officials from the following agencies participated in the effort to honor the nurses and other workers at the medical center: Manassas Fire Rescue Department, Manassas City Police Department, Manassas Park Fire Rescue, City of Manassas Park Police Department, Prince William County Fire & Rescue System, Prince William County Police Department, George Mason University Police Department, Nokesville Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department, Greater Manassas Volunteer Rescue Squad, AirCare 1 Medevac- Manassas, Virginia, Haymarket Police Department, Virginia State Police and federal agencies.

“We continue to receive an outpouring of support from the community," Smith said. "We are so thankful for the homemade masks, letters of support, food donations and lawn signs our hospitals have received."

Community members who would like to make a donation to the hospital should email NHUVA.SR@novanthealth.org to find out what the medical center needs and where to drop off donations.

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