SPORTS: Fauquier boys soccer and Kettle Run boys lacrosse squads clinch titles, and more. PAGES 19-22 May 17, 2023
Our 206th year | Vol. 206, No. 20 | www.Fauquier.com | $1.50 VIRGINIA PRESS ASSOCIATION: BEST SMALL NEWSPAPER IN VIRGINIA 2017-2022
Warrenton moves closer to buying horse show grounds 9.5 acres are slated to become a public park By Peter Cary
Piedmont Journalism Foundation
The Warrenton Town Council took a big step toward sealing the deal to buy the Warrenton Horse Show grounds on Tuesday, May 9 when its members voted unanimously to finalize negotiations with the organization that owns the property. The proposed arrangement would have the town spend $1.6 million of its COVID-19 relief money to purchase the 9.5 acres on East Shirley Avenue for a public park where the Warrenton Horse show Association could also continue to run its annual horse and pony shows. See HORSE SHOW, page 4
PHOTO BY DOUG STROUD
Picking and grinning: H.M. Pearson Elementary music teacher Andrew McGinley invited the bluegrass band he leads, “Andrew McGinley and Paxon Ridge,” for a full day of instruction at the Catlett school. The five-piece band played blue grass and unveiled a new school song, “The Panda Song,” which was accompanied by fourth and fifth graders playing recorders. The visit was about “helping the kids learn what the different instruments sound like,” McGinley said. Band members include, from left: Mason Wright on the fiddle; Robert Mabe on the banjo; McGinley, lead vocals and guitar; Jack Dunlap on the mandolin; Cody Brown on bass; and Buddy Dunlap on the dobro. The event was sponsored by the school’s PTO.
Fauquier Hospital’s safety score rises to a ‘C’ after pandemic lows By Anya Sczerzenie
Fauquier Times Staff Writer
After a year and a half of historically low scores, Fauquier Hospital has improved its Leapfrog safety score to a C. The hospital’s latest score, awarded for spring 2023, is an improvement after the facility received three D grades in a row in 2021 and 2022. Because data is delayed by a few years, the D grades represented how the hospital performed during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Sarah Cubbage, a Fauquier Health spokeswoman. The latest grade takes improvements that were made a few years ago into account, Cubbage said in an email. “We expect it will still take several cycles be-
Fauquier Health in Warrenton fore the Leapfrog data reflects this recent progress,” Cubbage wrote. “Since our previous score, it is evident we are starting to see the results of the progress being made.” The Leapfrog safety score looks at how likely hospitals are to make preventable errors as well as
the prevalence of hospital-acquired infections and surgical complications. They are calculated by the Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit organization that releases grades twice a year for more than 3,000 hospitals in the United States. The grade considers many aspects of the hospital, such as staff communication with patients, hand hygiene and different types of hospital-acquired conditions such as falls, bedsores and infections. The 97-bed Fauquier Hospital, officially named Fauquier Health, has a 24-hour emergency department and several specialty services, including a cardiac catheterization lab and an orthopedics and spine center. See HOSPITAL, page 2
Warrenton Middle School celebrates its 100-year history before closing next week. Page 7
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