Just a year after opening a major expansion of its downtown pediatric hospital, VCU Health is already ramping up facility capacity.
The fitness formula plans to add about 40 additional inpatient beds at Richmond Children’s Hospital to the VCU at 1000 E. Broad St.
Marlon Levy, interim CEO of VCU Health, showcased the task in a recent interview, saying it is expected to be completed within the next two years.
Levy said the expansion and other new amenities meet the demand the hospital has experienced since it opened to patients.
“(There are) more surgeries, more emergency room visits, more hospitalizations, more outpatient visits. Every step that can be simply to answer the question, ‘Are we serving more young people and their families,’ the answer is yes,” Levy said.
When the fitness formula finished its 16-story, 72-bed addition to the Children’s Tower last year, it set aside 144,000 feet of structure area for future use. The new beds will occupy 58,000 feet on two of those unfinished floors.
A cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology lab is expected to open this summer to fill the existing space.
In the fall, VCU Health plans to open a children’s activity area called the Teammates for Kids Child Life Zone. In this area, patients will be able to present art projects, create music, watch videos, and practice other activities. The nonprofit concept was founded by country musician Garth Brooks and there are more than a dozen other similar play regions in children’s hospitals across the United States.
“We’re on tactics to fill (helmet space),” Levy said. “We’ve gotten to the point where we’re in position for it, we were probably in position for it a while after we opened. “
The total estimate for the three projects is about $75 million, according to a spokeswoman for the fitness system.
The bed expansion is expected to include surgical beds as well as cribs for neonatal intensive care units. Surgical beds are subject to regulatory approval through the state’s Certificate of Public Necessity (COPN) program. The lab and neonatal beds expected to be added to La Torre de los Niños are already approved, the spokeswoman said.
There would still be space available once the new beds, lab, and children’s activity area are completed. The structure is also designed to allow for the construction of two more floors if needed, but there are no immediate plans to do so.
“At some point we’ll bring in a crane and lift the roof,” Levy said.
Richmond Children’s Hospital at VCU marked the finishing touch on the $420 million Children’s Tower just over a year ago. It was added to the Children’s Pavilion, an ambulatory care center completed on the same block in 2016. Together, the two institutions form the pediatric hospital.
While looking to build capacity at Children’s Hospital, VCU Health is also in the early stages of making plans for further progression at its downtown MCV campus.
The VCU Visitors Council was briefed last week on a handful of investment projects planned for services on the downtown campus, maximum in the domain bounded by Broad Street, the highway and North 10th and Leigh streets.
Projects in the planning stages include the university’s new College of Dentistry to be built at 900 Turpin St. and a first phase of more inpatient services to be added to the Nelson Clinic at 401 N. 11th St. and for outpatient care. Center at 417 N. 11th St.
In the longer term, over a period of 3 to 15 years, a new interdisciplinary university building in fitness sciences is planned to be built on top of VCU’s current College of Dentistry, at 520 N. 12th St. as a logistical formula for the fitness formula. A center and parking lot that would be built under a mixed-use progression across the street, VCU Chief Monetary Officer Meredith Weiss told members of the university’s board of trustees.
Weiss appointed the university’s chief financial officer last week after serving in the role on an interim basis.
The long-term vision also includes an academic, study and workplace building that would be built on the site recently occupied by West Hospital at 1200 E. Broad St. , which Weiss says was built in 1940 and is considered beyond its usefulness. with more than $150 million in deferred maintenance.
The construction of a new dormitory near the future dental school is also being studied.
Beyond these, there are two inpatient expansion projects on campus.
Jack joined BizSense in 2020, covering startups, retail, healthcare, public enterprises, and nonprofits. In the past, he has reported for the Virginia Gazette and Tidewater Review. He is a graduate of Christopher Newport University. Contact him at [email protected] or 804-554-6545.
MCV has become the Roman Empire of downtown Richmond. I soon became one of the ten largest centers for training, research, and medical remedies in the United States.
The expansion of VCU Health has been a glorious thing for downtown Richmond and the region. It’s exciting to see such expansions, but it causes this plan to carelessly include the demolition of the West Hospital on Broad Street, one of the most architecturally significant buildings in the city. happen. If the building is not suitable for use as a fashionable hospital, it can be renovated into university offices or student residences. As a licensed architect in the Commonwealth of Virginia, I am volunteering to contribute to the feasibility study. I’m sure there are many other architects. . . Read more »
Thank you for that. Richmond has lost enough architectural gems and I don’t want to lose this one.
This happens every two years, when VCU/MCV publishes a new master plan. They were looking to update it before I was a college student (early 2000s). ACORN was the organization that would lead the pace and prevent it from being brought down. , but I don’t know if it exists yet. If you’re ever there, take a look at the floor at the entrance. Beautiful mosaic that is overlooked.
VCU’s strategy has been to render Western Hospital absolutely unusable for the staff housed there by deferring maintenance and refusing to fix the problems, so that they can mark it as scheduled for demolition. For example, the pre-hospital education branch that trains paramedics, and others are in a windowless basement where there are constant water and sewer clogs, mold problems, etc. The VCU will only provide the mandatory minimum to avoid being prosecuted for unsafe work, the environment, and nothing else. Existing facilities can simply be preserved, reconfigured, repaired, and updated to offer modern conveniences while retaining the. . . Read More »
To be honest. . . if you walk by West Hospital, many floors have been renovated in the last 10 years. I agree with you, I’d prefer the construction to stay, but VCUH doesn’t know that at all.
And to think that I took the initiative a few years ago in defending the structure of this hospital. It’s possible that the establishment in this city simply hasn’t fought harder to oppose this. The doctors at PACKids said loudly and determinedly. that they needed it to provide greater assistance to youth and families in Central Virginia and to get patients across the country cared for. What was once thought of as an ambulatory care center has grown into an entire hospital serving a giant network of patients and their families. . It’s about care, it’s about economic development,. . . Read More »
An enticing novelty to spell your name, Charlie?
What is the next step for the VCU that will blow up the Egyptian building, the monumental church?At the first African Baptist church, they built a damn parking lot 25 feet from the front door. But, of course, those other people don’t care about history.
It is vital to preserve history, but so is the future. As a parent of a child who has been hospitalized here at CHOR for five months (since January), my son’s survival would not be imaginable without this facility and those care providers. I’d hate to think that their ideals could jeopardize those life-saving projects. Have some attitude and empathy for the paintings made here. This is not a golf course!
Amen, Jessica. May your child recover absolutely quickly. May he live and be healthy and have a long, satisfied and fruitful life. Send positive power to give you strength and convenience and pray for your child’s full recovery.
After what happened on Monument Ave, it seemed apparent to me that history meant nothing to anyone in the city of Richmond. That’s why he keeps voting, so enjoy the demolition of the city.
Please refresh your browser to access this website. Update my browser now