Halifax Regional Health System officials announced a major new construction project on Friday. Plans call for the construction of two patient floors on East IV and East V, each housing 20 spacious new patient rooms with renovations also being made to the hospital's emergency department and family birthing center, as well as adding more parking space.
Construction of the two new floors atop the current facility is expected to start in late September or early October. Each will contain approximately 15,000 square feet and will be added to the front tower that faces Wilborn Avenue. Construction is expected to be completed in the summer of 2009.
Cost of the two new floors is estimated to be some $14,000 while other improvements are expected to run around $6,000. Chris Lumsden, CEO of Halifax Regional Health System, who introduced the project to the media on Friday, said the new construction "will make Halifax Regional one of the finest healthcare systems in Virginia."
Former patients and family members, along with nurses and other clinical staffers and physicians have been meeting in focus groups during the past 18 months to provide feedback about patient safety and efficient care, as well as to suggest ideas for aesthetically pleasing interiors for the new addition. Halifax Regional hired the nationally known architectural firm of Odell and Associates of Charlotte, NC to incorporate these ideas into the design for the new inpatient floors.
"Our focus was to make the environment more healing and more comfortable for the patients and their families," said Connie Zamaro, Director of Planning and Business Development. Pointing to the large windows along the front of the building, she explained they would provide lots of natural light for patient rooms. The rooms would also feature soft lighting, as well as earthtone colors in the floor tiles. The new rooms will be some 50 to 75 percent larger than the current hospital rooms and they will offer comfortable seating and a place to sleep for family members who need to be near their loved one. Spacious, open family areas including a food station and a play area for children are located on each floor and an additional elevator will also be installed.
Research, Zamaro says, has shown that space has an effect on people within their perimeters. Architects and interior designers for healthcare environments such as hospitals, long-term care facilities or assisted living have begun to include aesthetic enhancements to help reduce stress and anxiety, increase the patient's healthcare experience and promote healing.
"The facility improvements will also greatly enhance the work environment for our employees and doctors. These are the features we are going to incorporate in this project," Lumsden said.
The two new floors will each have 20 new rooms, 18 on the front side with two rooms on each floor being corner rooms that face the back of the hospital. There will be six care stations on each of the floors with personnel manning those stations with patient charts close at hand, giving patients a 3.6 to 1 caregiver ratio.
The addition will give the hospital some 100 rooms for patient care and Patricia F. Thomas, Director of Patient Care Services, said patients will be assigned to the rooms on the new floors first. When those fill up, then patients will then be assigned to the lower floors with those rooms all being single occupancy and also completely renovated.
The J. E. Burton Company will be the general contractor for the project, and a groundbreaking ceremony is expected to be held in early October.
Both Dr. James Witko, president of the hospital's Medical Staff and Dr. Joan Devine, vice-president, expressed their enthusiasm for the project which they both explained will focus on "taking care of the people of this community."
"It used to be that hospitals were designed for doctors," Witko joked, "but they are now designed for patients. This is a great move and we are very enthusiastic about it."
Dexter Gilliam, a member of the hospital's Board of Directors and chairman of the Planning and Development Committee, said the plan has gone through a lengthy and thorough process with input from the doctors, staff, management and patients. Our Board is focused on meeting the needs of this service area," Gilliam said.