The Region's Only Critical Care Hospital

By Anuj Singh

Virginia Commonwealth University’s $192 million Critical Care Hospital launches a new era in treating critically ill and injured patients.

The 15-level hospital, located on East Marshall Street, is the region’s only critical care hospital.

“The 367,000 square-foot facility increases critical care capacity at the medical center with intensive care units for surgical trauma, neonatal, burn center, cardiac, neuroscience, medical respiratory and oncology patients,” said Brian Ohlinger, vice president of facilities management at VCU, in an e-mail.

Ohlinger said patient and health care provider safety were the main goals in the design and construction of the new hospital.

“The entire building is digitally wired to accommodate the intense communications of critical care units, and environmentally constructed so help is just a step away,” said Pamela Lepley, director of communications at VCU.

Lepley said the new hospital has 32 adult patient beds, increasing the medical center’s ratio of private to semi-private beds from 37 percent to 70 percent.

The construction of the new hospital was a difficult under taking.

The W.M. Jordon Co. of Newport News was in charge of construction for the largest construction project in the history of the VCU Medical Center.

Sue Lewis handled the publicity for the construction of the new hospital for W.M. Jordan.

“The construction site was beside an extremely busy urban emergency room, which meant there could be no disruption in the day to day activities of staff or patients, and the new tower connects to existing buildings on three sides,” Lewis said.

Lewis said worker safety and non-disruption of the hospital’s day to day operations was a huge challenge.

“Thirteeth Street was partially closed off to accommodate construction, but there needed to be room for deliveries too pass through to the Clinical Support Center loading dock,” Lewis said.

Lewis said a temporary bridge had to be erected between the visitors parking deck and East Clay Street, and construction materials were brought in daily on a “just in time” basis. Materials were delivered only when they were needed to reduce clutter.

Comfort of patients was one of the main concerns of the Critical Care hospital, keeping family members close to their ill or hospitalized relatives was a key element in the hospital’s design

A typical room will average 250-square-feet and include a comfortable sitting area for the patient’s family.

Along with comfort, providing better services for critically injured people was the number one reason for building the new facility.

“The new hospital enables the medical center to better respond to the critical care needs of the region,” Lepley said

Media

http://www.new.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=535408056113

http://www.new.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=535409677863

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=527994897398

http://www.vcucriticalcare.com/?id=530&sid=3

Related Stories

http://flickr.com/photos/andrewbain/2073713693/

http://www.wtvr.com/Global/story.asp?S=9146127

http://www.venturerichmond.com/downtown/projects-vcu.html

Symbol for MCV

by Anuj Singh

The Medical College of Virginia’s Egyptian building is a historical symbol for Virginia Commonwealth University and the Medical College of Virginia.

The Egyptian building, located on E. Marshall Street, was built in 1844 by Philadelphia architect Thomas W. Stewart for the Medical Department of Hampden-Sydney College (now MCV).

Jodi Koste is a librarian and local historian at MCV’s Tompkins-McCaw Library; she thinks the building has a lot of historical value.

“The fact that we have provided medical instruction in the (Egyptian) building since the fall of 1844 is remarkable…the Egyptian building is a wonderful architectural and historical asset for the university,” Koste said.

The building, formerly known as the Old College building is renowned for its unique Egyptian revival design.

“The building’s unusual architectural style gives us (MCV) a building that is distinctive…I think it gives students a sense of history and understanding of how far this institution has come,” Koste said.

Brian Nguyen is a student at VCU’s School of Medicine and vice president of student life for the Student Government Association at MCV.

“None of the other buildings at MCV have the history and charm of the Egyptian building, it has become the symbol of MCV by default,” Nguyen said.

“The architecture of the building is magnificent, and the hieroglyphics on the walls are a nice touch,” Nguyen said.

Like Koste, Nguyen thinks the Egyptian building has historical significance.

“The (Egyptian) building serves as an icon for a medical school rich in history…once inside you really realize how old the building is,” Nguyen said.

In 1969 the National Register of Historic Places recognized it as the oldest building south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

The five story building serves MCV in many different ways.

It houses the 270-seat Baruch Auditorium, named after former graduate Dr. Simon Baruch.

There are small classrooms on the second floor that are used by all of MCV’s schools.

The building also houses the Office of Continuing Medical Education and the Dept. of Physical Medicine and Physical Rehabilitation.

“There are some older medical education buildings in the country, but the Egyptian building is certainly significant for VCU,” Koste said.

Koste said the Egyptian building has long been a symbol for VCU and MCV.

“Dr. William T. Sanger (President of MCV, 1925-1956) added buildings image to the official college seal…the buildings image was also used on early college publications,” Koste said.

In its 163 years of existence it has been used by every school of MCV at one time or another.

Mass Communications Week

by Anuj Singh

Former White House correspondent Bob Deans speaks to Virginia Commonwealth University students about the upcoming Presidential Election.
Deans is a graduate of VCU’s school of mass communications and the former president of the White House Correspondents’ Association. He spoke to mass communications students and faculty Wed. at VCU’s student commons building.
Deans said the upcoming election is the most exciting of his time, and Virginia has the most dramatic story of this election.
Virginia has been a dominant Republican state since 1964, but 53 percent of Virginian voters favoring Democrat Barack Obama over John McCain.
“It’s a historic lead for a former confederate state,” Deans said.
Deans thinks that Obama will win the election.
“Any one with a pulse knows that (Barack) Obama is cruising toward a comfortable win,” Deans said.
Deans who was a White House correspondent during the Clinton and Bush administrations said the country is in bad shape.
He discussed why he thinks the John McCain and the Republican Party will not win on Nov. 4.


“The country (USA) is in dire straits, it is at its worst since World War II,” Deans said.
Deans said that few problems were corrected by the current administration.
“The financial system reeks, $2 trillion in portfolio wealth has been washed out, and the stock market has lost 35 cents on the dollar in the Dow Jones (&Co.)” Deans said.
Deans said the Republican campaign is deeply flawed, and that the presidential election is not a national election 50 individual state elections.
“Many Americans are siding with Barack Obama’s plan…people don’t see a reason to vote republican.” Deans said.
Deans closed his speech by discussing Barack Obama himself as a reason why Obama will win the Presidential Election.
“He (Obama) is a genuine political phenomenon, he speaks at an emotional and spiritual level,” Deans said.
Deans thinks Obama has merged himself with John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King.

Anuj Singh
Hometown: Charlottesville, VA
Favorite thing: The New York Giants

Aaron Brunk Profile

by Anuj Singh

Baseball is a part of life for Aaron Brunk.
“I started playing when I was five, because my dad played (in high school) and he wanted me play also,” Brunk said.
Brunk, 21, is a junior at Virginia Commonwealth University, he currently plays second base for the Broadway Bruins of the Rockingham County Baseball League, an amateur league in western Virginia.
Brunk played well enough to make second basemen for the Amateur Athletic Union’s (AAU) traveling team at the age of 12.
The AAU selects the best players from a region and places them on a team to travel around the country and play other similar teams. Between the ages of 12 and 15 Brunk’s bating average was.350.
“We played in Minneapolis my first year, Kinston NC, my second (year), and Sarasota (Fla.) in my third (year)” Brunk said.
Bobby Thompson, a longtime friend of Brunk’s, has played baseball with him since 1996.
“Aaron’s a real fiery guy, he’s a competitor, you don’t to mess with him on the baseball field, you might get a helmet thrown at you,” Thompson said.
“I like baseball because everyone’s individual effort is needed to succeed," Brunk said.
Brunk wants to earn a bachelor’s degree in mass communications so he can cover baseball and other sports for a living.
“I like baseball, but I wouldn’t mind reporting on football, too,” Brunk said.
Brunk’s major at VCU is broadcast journalism.
“During the summer I worked at this radio station in Bridgewater,” he said. “I operated sound boards during (baseball) games, I’ve also done a lot of late night on-air work where I make my own playlists,” Brunk said.
Brunk admits that baseball is not as popular as it once was.
“I think baseball is boring to people because the same teams win all the time; there’s no parody like there is in football,” Brunk said.
Looking back, Brunk is glad to have found his focus
Brunk wasted sometime after high school, and was not serious about school.
“I like the progress I’m making now; I’m serious about school now,” Brunk said.
When Brunk isn’t playing baseball, he’s following his favorite team, the Baltimore Orioles. Brunk and his friend Thompson follow them together.
“Aaron and I are huge baseball fans,” Thompson said.

VCU Business Fair

by Anuj Singh

Students and representatives find biannual career fair at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Business helpful.

Many business firms attended the event, including State Farm Insurance, CarMax, Geico, and Heritage Wealth Advisors.

Rodney Wheeler, Human Resources Representative for State Farm Insurance, has done three School of Business career fairs, and said VCU is a great recruiting ground for potential employees.

“VCU students have the eagerness, professionalism, and education we are looking for in future employees,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler said VCU business students have begun to show more interest the world’s largest automobile, property, and causality insurance provider.

“State Farm has become a recognized business by VCU students, and they are considering future employment opportunities with us (State Farm),” Wheeler said.

CarMax was another one of the fair’s regulars. Dondi Wyatt, service payables manager, represents her firm at VCU’s business fair every spring and fall.

“We typically recruit for our accounting, finance, and information technology departments,” Wyatt said.

Wyatt said CarMax, which is headquartered locally here in Richmond, shows a lot of interest in VCU’s business students.

“This (VCU) campus is nearby and it is one of the best campuses to recruit from, the students are very professional,” Wyatt said.

Some VCU students showed a lot of interest at the fair, and found it insightful and helpful.

Elias Andreopoulos, 28, is an accounting student at VCU.

“The (business) fair gives us (VCU students) a chance to meet the firms that have job opportunities in our fields,” Andreopoulos said.

Andreopoulos said he found the fair beneficial.

“These fairs prepare us for future job interviews and allows us to make connections in the business world before we graduate,” Andreopoulos said.

Jessica Bui, 21, is a business administration and management major, said this was her first business fair. She visited many of the different firms’ tables including Defense Management Contractors Agency, Ferderal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), and Heritage Wealth Advisors.

“There was a good selection of firms, and it allows us (VCU students) to begin networking with people in the business world,” Bui said.