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Rappahannock General Hospital is getting a much-needed facelift and substantive updates.
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The new canopy will make it easy to drop off or pickup hospital visitors and patients.
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An enlarged 10-bed Emergency Department is included in the substantive updates.
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The Community Café and its kitchen will now be on the right side of the hospital, with large glass walls that bring the outdoors in.
Lancaster County has a long history of philanthropy.
Every time the county has sought the public’s assistance in bettering the region—including major projects such as the Community Library, the pool at the YMCA, the Boys and Girls Club—its residents and businesses have stepped up to contribute funds to make those dreams a reality. And while each of those projects had a hefty price tag, comparatively speaking they were relatively modest endeavors compared to the county’s current priority.
Jimmy Carter was President when Rappahannock General Hospital was built in 1977 as an independent community hospital. But with Lancaster and Northumberland Counties being two of the most elderly-populated counties in the country, most patient bills were paid by Medicare and eventually, the hospital began losing money performing basic services for Medicare patients. The era of independent, standalone hospitals was over, and it was time to look at different options to better serve the community.
Enter Bon Secours, which in 2015 merged with Rappahannock General Hospital to save the day. Jimmie Carter, a former hospital board member who was head of the strategic planning committee at the time, was part of the team that negotiated the merger. “We talked to six or seven hospital systems, and it was clear that Bon Secours was the right partner,” says Carter, who’s now a member of the hospital’s Foundation. “And it had to be a Richmond-based hospital system because of the referrals.”
Given the investment Bon Secours brought to the table, the merger was a wise move for the little rural Northern Neck hospital. All former employees were kept, as well as parity of pay. As the region’s largest employer, both were essential elements of any future plans. “That was so important to the medical and economic health of the community,” Carter explains. “And, let’s face it, people aren’t going to live where there’s no good healthcare.”
After Bon Secours put $17 million into equipment, infrastructure and staff, they handed off the ball to the hospital’s Foundation, which pledged to pay for a complete renovation and expansion of the hospital’s emergency center. That meant they needed to raise $15 million, a major fundraising campaign for communities as small as Lancaster and Northumberland. Not surprisingly given the counties’ history of generosity, the Foundation soon received transformational bequests. “We got the two largest bequests ever given to Bon Secours in Virginia,” Carter says with not a little pride. “And all for their smallest hospital!”
The current emergency room is an eight-bed unit that is often crowded and lacks privacy, with only curtains between patients with urgent medical needs. A 10-bed Emergency Department featuring separate rooms with doors will elevate not only patients’ privacy but safety, while new technology will enable staff to better serve them. The new emergency room will be twice as big and will also be shifted to a much more prominent location, occupying the front left side of the building.
Naturally the relocation and improvements to the emergency suites have necessitated additional shifts to other areas also needing renovations. The Community Café and its kitchen will now be on the right side of the hospital, with large glass walls that bring the outdoors in. The adjoining entrance and lobby will be redone, and renovations made to the interior courtyard and memorial garden, so patients and staff have a welcoming place to enjoy fresh air. Despite the grueling renovation to-do list, the café is scheduled to reopen in 60 days and the Emergency Department should be fully completed in 16 months.
Because one of the primary roles of a small hospital is to diagnose what’s wrong with patients, Bon Secours has been steadily investing in new equipment for the past seven years. The radiology suites are state-of-the-art, the nuclear scan suite is brand-new and they have the latest digital mammography machine. “Rita” is a human-size robot that assists in determining whether or not a patient is having a stroke. That’s significant because it makes Rappahannock General Hospital one of the smallest hospitals in the entire country to be stroke certified. A neurologist appears virtually on the screen that is Rita’s “face” and interacts with the patient, looking at the CT scan in real time and consulting with staff about what needs to be done. When appropriate, a helicopter service in West Point is alerted to come and take the patient to Richmond for further treatment.
In addition to basic services, Rappahannock General Hospital has something most rural hospitals do not: a cancer treatment and education center with a full-time oncologist on staff. Although they don’t offer radiation, they do perform chemotherapy. Plans are being explored to enlarge the cancer center, including a larger group infusion center to provide more room and privacy, not just for cancer patients, but also for those with blood disorders and bone disease.
Even with years of planning and a detailed daily construction plan for what’s to be accomplished, one aspect that still needs to be completed is fundraising. The Foundation remains several million dollars short of its goal and continues to look to the community for all the support it can give to reach that target. “We’re having great success, but we’re still looking to finalize fundraising,” Carter says. “Anyone interested can call the hospital or go to our website. What’s important for people to understand is that all donations made to Rappahannock General Hospital will stay here.”
No one can deny that Lancaster County has a long history of philanthropic donations, as well as an unusually high degree of volunteerism. Even the new brick signage out front seems to announce the potential of Rappahannock General Hospital going forward. “The hospital will look new and modern once everything is finished and everyone knows perception is reality,” Carter says. “People think, if they can’t fix their building, how are they going to fix me? I love this hospital and I’m honored to be involved. In my opinion, this hospital is our community’s most important asset.”
Go to bsvaf.org/about/rappahannock to learn more about and contribute to The Campaign for Rappahannock General Hospital.
