Charlottesville’s ‘new University Hospital’ is being renewed

With the help of a 13-story construction crane and millions of dollars, a six-story, 72-bed, glass-fronted intensive care center is being added to the existing University of Virginia Medical Center. The addition is part of a $500 million plan to update the facility to house new technology, improve training and provide more advanced medical care.

The addition to the main hospital at Lee Street and Jefferson Park Avenue will be accompanied by the Lee Street Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center, now under construction, and a proposed 11th Street children’s medical unit. The half-billion-dollar improvement plan also includes a long-term, acute-care hospital at Northridge Medical Center on Ivy Road.

“The most recent construction of great note in the area was this hospital, which people still tend to call the new University Hospital,” said Ed Howell, vice president and chief executive officer of the medical center. “That construction was in April 1989, which makes the hospital 20 years old.”

Unfortunately, that makes the building outdated, Howell said.

“The useful life of a hospital building is about 20 to 30 years, not just because of wear and tear on the facility, but because changes in technology and techniques have different requirements in terms of power supply and infrastructure in a building,” he said.

The medical center provides a teaching facility for the university’s medical school, as well as residency programs for students. The center also has become an acute-care facility for some of the sickest patients from Richmond to West Virginia, according to Howell.

The center’s role in treating the seriously ill and training doctors makes the expansion and improvements a necessity, officials said.

“Much has happened since 1989 in the way of medical technology and techniques and, to meet our mission of training future health care professionals, we have to provide an environment for them to learn in that is like the environment they will practice in,” Howell said. “That means you have to provide an environment today that is close to the environment of tomorrow.”

One example of how the hospital will be remodeled to incorporate new technology is the inclusion of magnetic resonance imagery machinery in the operating rooms, Howell said.

“The MRI devices that we take for granted today were developed in 1986, at the time this hospital was being designed. Since then, the equipment and technology has improved but the facility hasn’t changed much to adapt,” he said. “With the new technology, if you’re performing a surgery for cancer, you can bring the MRI into the operating room, take images and determine if the surgery is successful. Obviously, for that kind of technology there have to be changes and reinforcements to the building’s infrastructure.”

Officials will build the new critical care units right above the hospital’s existing lobby, said Tom Harkin, chief of environmental care at the hospital.

Officials said the new glass-faced tower will create an easily recognized image of the hospital, as well as provide a sense of belonging and place to patients.

“We have the opportunity, since it’s facing north, to use a lot of windows and have as much natural light coming into a room as possible, or as much as the patient or family want,” Harkin said. “It provides a better sense of place. You can see where you are. You can see the city, trees and feel like you’re still part of the community rather than in a box or walking down a long, dark tunnel.”

To build the tower, the crane was moved onto the hospital site in early March. The crane rises three stories over the existing hospital.

“For a short time, the crane will be the tallest structure in Charlottesville,” Harkin said.

The construction, which has already begun, requires reinforcements in some areas of the building and upgrading of utilities. Officials are taking the period of new construction as an opportune time to refurbish the rest of the facility with new carpet, equipment and furnishings.

“There’s some urgency to [the construction]. Even though the demand for service is down about 4 percent because of the economy, we remain near capacity. Two days a week and sometimes three days a week, our beds are full,” Howell said. “The project comes at a time when the community needs it. [The medical center] is a large enterprise in terms of the number of people we serve and the number of people we employ in the community. When you take a look at the facilities and what we’re spending to upgrade them in equipment and infrastructure upgrades for the future, you can see why it’s often called ‘a billion-dollar journey.’”

Harkin said the effort is daunting, but needed.

“It’s, perhaps, ambitious, but it’s rewarding. It’s cutting-edge technology but it’s not experimental,” he said. “There is no other reason to build the facility and upgrade the building except to better serve our patients and provide better medical care.”