Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Here’s more of what’s going around:
-Mission Hospital is holding a community forum at 5 p.m. on Monday, April 20, during which the public can participate in via telephone. To join the Mission Hospital Community Forum, dial 877-228-2184. When prompted, enter PIN number 19449. Mission officials on the call include: CEO Chad Patrick, chief nurse executive Karen Olsen and chief medical officers Dr. Anthony Spensieri and Dr. William Hathaway. The forum will update Mission’s coronavirus preparations and its HCA Healthcare Mission Hospital system-wide collaborative effort. Time will be available to answer questions; please submit your questions online using the form available here.
-The One Buncombe emergency relief fund for Asheville and Buncombe County has topped $1 million in donations. The fund’s creation was announced on March 27. Go to One Buncombe to donate or apply for help.
-Asheville artist Mark Bettis has been promoting an effort to support artists, and help artists support each other. It’s a social media campaign, #artistsupportpledge and it works like this: an artist posts image of a work for sale for no more than $200 on Facebook or Instagram; anyone can buy; and when artist raises $1,000, they buy a piece from another artist. Bettis says that so far, at least two dozen Asheville artists are participating. He says it’s a way to pay support forward, while helping support local artists who are suffering from loss of sales, gallery closings, etc. Bettis says he picked this idea up from some artist friends in England. Check out the Mark Bettis page on Facebook for more.
-Buncombe County commissioners, on a split vote, approved a resolution this past week pushing for expanded COVID-19 testing in the county. Here’s the Mountain Xpress report on the testing discussion.
