VCU news

By Shira Pollard
Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU

Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU will celebrate its second birthday on Saturday, June 30. The celebration marks two years since VCU Health System and Children’s Hospital came together to form the area’s only full-service children’s hospital, Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU, which has 13 locations and 128 dedicated pediatric specialists throughout the Richmond area and Fredericksburg.

Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU invites patients, parents, pediatricians and members of the community to celebrate with them by visiting the hospital on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/chrichmond and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/childrensrva.  There, they can celebrate by entering to win a birthday present from the hospital.

“By joining VCU Health System and Children’s Hospital, Richmond gained a strong children’s health care provider,” said Leslie Wyatt, vice president of children’s services and executive director for Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU. “We have made children’s health a top priority for our region, and we have attracted a number of new pediatric specialists to the area. In fact, over the past three years, we have increased the pediatric faculty by 20 percent, significantly improving access to care for pediatricians and their patients.” 

The health system also has made a number of investments in programs and facilities for children, including a 40-bed private room neonatal intensive care unit and the only pediatric emergency room in the region with 24/7 access to pediatric subspecialists. In 2011, the Children’s Hospital Foundation invested in a state-of-the-art nephrology program at Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU that averages more than 30 outpatient visits a week. This fall, construction will begin an ambulatory pavilion to meet the growing demand for outpatient services for children.

“Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU is vital to the Richmond community,” said Bruce Rubin, M.D., physician-in-chief of Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU and chair of the VCU Department of Pediatrics. “Pediatrics is a priority, as evidenced by our dedicated people, programs and facilities that support the specific health needs of children.”

To learn more about the history of pediatric care in Richmond, view the Richmond Children’s Health Story at http://www.advancingchildrenshealth.com/about/.