If you are not new to Henrico County then you are well aware of the seemingly endless transitions of names for the hospital on Parham Road, near the County government offices. Since 2001 the site has been owned by HCA Healthcare’s Henrico Doctors’ Hospital. A new expansion to the property, which opened in the beginning of May, revolutionized the campus, providing the citizens of Henrico County and greater Richmond with their own “Grand New Hospital.”
According to Damond Boatwright, COO of Henrico Doctors’ Hospital, “The term Grand New Hospital was chosen because that is what it is. We did not build a new structure, but added to and remodeled the existing building.” This renovation comes to the tune of
$26 million and provides the area with the latest in
medical technology.
On December 14, 2004 a large crowd gathered at the site to watch as ground was officially broken in preparation of the expansion. The expanded facility would now meet the rising demand faced by the hospital for high quality healthcare in the rapidly growing area. The revamped facility features a totally new emergency department with easy patient and emergency access, a completely new critical care unit with the state-of-the-art equipment needed by doctors and nurses, and brand new operating suites fully equipped with the latest technology.
The Emergency Department
Emergency visits at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital’s Parham location have increased dramatically over the previous decade. With the expansion to this area, the number of beds available go from 12 to 18. These new rooms are equipped with the most modern technology while providing the privacy needed at a time of intense stress. With a television and telephone in each room the patient is able to stay in touch with loved ones.
By shifting the location of the emergency department to the front of the hospital it provides a much easier access in emergency situations, with separate entrances for walk-up patients and for ambulances. Also the new location places the emergency services closer to the other departments in the hospital that are frequently needed by emergency physicians.
The Critical Care Unit
The new critical care unit, built above the new emergency department, was created to accomodate the growing number of patients who need a more intense level of care. With totally modern equipment, the unit is built to further expand in the future. The close proximity to the emergency department proves beneficial when an emergency patient is transferred to the critical care unit. Within the critical care unit, there is a designated isolation room and three negative pressure rooms that are designed to deal with highly infectious diseases that require complete isolation from the rest of the hospital population.
