County telework center to offer library services and on-site telehealth starting Jan. 13, 2025

Erin Lazar, director of community programming, told the King and Queen County Board of Supervisors on Aug. 12 that the county’s planned telework center will duplicate programs now offered at the St. Stephens branch and relocate a book drop from the Via Center so residents in the lower county can continue borrowing materials. She said the facility will also provide public-facing services such as copying and faxing.

Amber Price, president of Sentara Williamsburg Hospital, accompanied by colleagues Stephen Payne and Alan Wilson, said the telehealth suite will provide onsite physical therapy, diabetes support programs, dietician services, electrocardiograms for patients of the facility’s telehealth cardiology providers and lab services for patients with provider orders. “The office hours will be 8:30 to 4:30 Monday through Friday beginning January 13, 2025,” Price said.

Lewie Lawrence, executive director of the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission, described a pilot program called Fight the Flood to address sea-level rise and said the telework center will provide space for businesses in that sector to have a regional presence. Lawrence said the MPPDC introduced the CEO of Natrix, who committed to using space in the telework center and to locating on property adjacent to the Middle Peninsula Regional Airport.

County Administrator Vivian Seay asked that an item on signage design for the telework center be tabled for discussion at a forthcoming work session prior to approval.

The telework center is being promoted as both a community resource for library services and a site for health and economic development programming; board members thanked staff for the update and expressed optimism about services once the center opens.