Imagine remodeling your kitchen for four years, Esther Desimini, Riverside Walter Reed Hospital President said. You work around the construction, you do your best to feed your family, and all the while you look ahead to what you know the final result is going to be.
That’s what it’s been like on the Riverside Walter Reed Hospital campus for the last four years, while the hospital has undergone a more than $55 million renovation and expansion. But now, the construction is complete. The renovation is over.
“What Riverside has created here on the Middle Peninsula, is an advanced healing environment that is comfortable, not only for our patients, but also for their families and the entire community, too,” Desimini said, thanking the Riverside team members for taking extra care with patients during the renovation and thanking the community for their patience.
The expansion and renovation project marked the most significant construction project at the community hospital since it opened in 1977, Riverside CEO Bill Downey said. “We are so blessed to have something like this in such a small community,” said Jane Niethamer, a Gloucester resident who relocated from Northern Virginia.
The hospital’s expansion was anchored by a new two-story, 54,000 square foot Surgical and Inpatient Services building and new main entrance lobby and registration area complete with a grab and go coffee and lunch counter and The Daffodil Gift Shop. The new building and main entrance is conveniently located adjacent to the existing Medical Arts Building and has a covered, drive through drop-off area.
The Surgical Services Suite in the new building includes three operating suites, two procedure rooms, and pre-operative and post-operative recovery areas. Among the advances in the surgical suite include advanced LED lighting that puts off less heat and are camera equipped, enabling surgical video integration that provides a complete picture of the patient’s condition at any given moment. All seven new pre-op rooms are fully private, equipped with televisions and music therapy is available to help relieve patient anxiety. Thirteen post-surgery patient bays/rooms also allow for increased privacy while supporting best practices in infection prevention, safety and monitoring.
The second floor of the new building houses 36 private inpatient rooms equipped with private bathrooms and showers, convertible sleeper sofas and additional seating for visitors and family members and numerous other features designed to increase both care and comfort. Each room includes its own fully integrated computer system, enabling safe, efficient access to Electronic Medical Records and built-in telemetry capabilities to be monitored by trained technicians stationed right on the floor 24/7.
“It’s a wonderful addition for the community,” said Jane Sterling, a Gloucester resident who worked in nursing for Riverside for 20 years.
The hospital’s Emergency Department, which services nearly 22,000 patients a year, was enlarged from 6,300-square-feet to more than 16,000-square-feet and now includes 18 beds, three major treatment rooms, a trauma room and a dedicated Family Care Room.
Other major enhancements were a new central pharmacy, additional parking and the relocation of various administrative offices. Outpatient services including areas of Diagnostic Imaging, Lab Draw, Stress Testing, Pulmonary Function, Infusion and the Special Procedures Unit were also constructed or relocated to newly renovated areas of the facility.
“These improvements will mean better care, more comfort, more safety and quicker recovery,” said Barbara Van Hoy, a Gloucester resident. “I don’t think you could ask for anything more for a local hospital like this.”
In addition, over the last few years of construction and renovation, Riverside’s new Orthopedic Specialists office opened, the Cardiology and ENT offices moved into newly renovated spaces, Hospice and Home Health Services combined in a newly renovated space off Gloucester’s Main Street and the Hayes Medical Center in southern Gloucester completed a major renovation and update improving patient flow and access.
The last phase of Riverside Walter Reed Hospital campusconstruction was recently celebrated as the ribbon was cut opening the new Emergency Department waiting and registration areas and included a tribute to our area first responders. The new waiting and registration areas offer increased privacy and a calming environment. It also includes a Family Care Room giving the department a consultation room for family members, loved ones and the care teams to gather together in a private setting.
Improving quality care and providing a safe, healing environment are at the core of what Riverside Health System stands for. Its mission of caring for others as they care for those they love is supported by the care teams that live it each day.
NEW EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT INCLUDES TRIBUTE TO FIRST RESPONDERS
Walking through the lobby of the Emergency Department at Riverside Walter Reed Hospital earlier this year, Shannon Klink, BSN, RN, CEN couldn’t help but reflect on the men and women peering at her from the 30 custom portraits hanging on easels throughout the room.
“This is our family,” said Klink, the Nurse Manager for the Emergency Department. “We have all seen a lot of hard things together. We have been angels for each other. And seeing all these images tonight, and knowing they will hang on the walls of our hospital, is like having photos of your own family hanging in your own home.”
In January, Riverside Walter Reed Hospital unveiled a compelling series of commissioned images featuring the first responders from across the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck, the regions the hospital primarily serves.The photographs were created by award-winning photographer Michael Taylor of the Williamsburg-based Sigmon Taylor Photography and are now part of a permanent exhibit in the hospital’s Emergency Department.
“Our first responders are more than just our partners in health care,” said Esther Desimini, President of Riverside Walter Reed Hospital. “They keep us safe.”
For more information on Riverside Walter Reed Hospital, visit riversideonline.com/rwrh.