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Norris Tyson (center) takes a look into the CT Scanning Room yesterday as the Stafford Hospital Center held an open house for the public.
Alice Portt tries a chair in the Family Birth Center at the new Stafford Hospital Center,
At the new Stafford Hospital Center that is scheduled to open in two weeks, people in the atrium/dining hall can look out through a wall of glass onto a wetland pond. |
BY BILL FREEHLING
The public got its first glimpse yesterday inside the Stafford Hospital Center, which opens in less than two weeks.
Staff at Virginia's first new hospital in more than 30 years led the public
It was hard to tell exactly how many people attended the open house, but hospital officials estimated it was more than 1,000.
Visitors were treated to a free lunch, blood pressure screenings and a guided tour of the 100-bed hospital, whose parent company--MediCorp Health System--also runs Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg. They saw hospital areas that soon won't be accessible to non-patients, including the operating rooms.
The Stafford hospital is on five floors and includes state-of-the-art equipment such as a lock-down system preventing babies from being removed from the birthing area without permission.
It also has many features designed to make a patient's stay as comfortable as possible--including flat-screen televisions with cable in each room, a chapel with stained glass, room service, ample natural light and artwork from Stafford residents.
"As beautiful as this is, I can't wait for you to actually see their caregivers," Cathy Yablonski, the hospital's administrator, told one of the first tour groups.
Bill and Alice Portt, who live about a mile away from the new hospital, were among that group.
Alice Portt said she went through the Potomac Hospital in Prince William County when it opened more than 30 years ago, and said it's amazing how health care facilities have evolved.
Her husband said it will be nice not to have to fight traffic to get to Potomac Hospital or Mary Washington Hospital, and he thinks the facility will help Stafford's economy. He also hopes it will lead to improvement at the Courthouse Road-U.S. 1 intersection.
"It's great to have a hospital up here in Stafford," Bill Portt said.
The hospital opens Feb. 27, which is ahead of schedule, but construction work will continue in that area. The 60,000-square-foot Stafford Medical Pavilion, which will provide medical offices and connect to the hospital, won't be ready for several months. Hospital Center Boulevard provides the main entrance off U.S. 1, but it won't connect to a second entrance off Courthouse Road for a few months.
Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. of Baltimore is the general contractor for the project. Yablonski said about 350 people have been hired to work at the hospital, and administrators are still recruiting nurses, technicians and other positions.
The hospital is in the Aquia District of Stafford Supervisor Paul Milde, who was on one of the tours yesterday. "High-paying jobs and saving lives is a pretty good combination," Milde said of the project.
It won't be long before another hospital opens in the area. The 126-bed Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center, which is under construction at Interstate 95 and U.S. 17, is on track to open next year, giving the Fredericksburg area three hospitals.
Staff at the Stafford hospital are already planning a celebration for the first baby born there. About 9 a.m. on the 27th, Yablonski will put out a call to area-wide emergency crews telling them the Stafford Hospital Center is open for business.
"I get goose bumps just saying that," Yablonski said.
Bill Freehling: 540/374-5405
Email: bfreehling@freelancestar.com
