HEALTH

Charlottesville Daily Progress
Published: September 6, 2007

From the common cold to cancer, Charlottesville's health care providers offer top-notch care.

UVa Health System

The largest provider is the ever-expanding University of Virginia Health System, which offers access to cutting-edge research as well as basic medical services. Patients seeking the latest breakthroughs in medicine can enroll in any of the ongoing clinical trials, or seek treatment from one of the system's world-renowned specialists.

The health system consists of the Medical Center, the Schools of Medicine and Nursing, the Health Services Foundation and the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library.

The UVa Medical Center repeatedly has been ranked one of the Top 100 Hospitals in the country by Solucient - a national provider of health care information. In January 2007, the center's lung transplant program achieved the best one-year patient survival rate in the country: 98.08 percent compared to the national rate of 87.6 percent nationwide.

The health system includes a 572-bed hospital with state-of-the-art facilities and primary and specialty care clinics located throughout Central Virginia.

The Medical Center's clinical services include the UVa Children's Hospital, the Heart and Vascular Center and the Digestive Center of Excellence. The Kluge Children's Rehabilitation Center and HealthSouth provide a full range of rehabilitation services for both children and adults.

Planning and construction are underway for two new buildings, the Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center and the Carter-Harrison Research Building.

The five-floor outpatient cancer center should be completed in January of 2009. Construction on the center, which will be between 140,000 and 150,000 square feet, will begin once the parking garage on the corner of Lee Street and Jefferson Park Avenue is torn down.

The health system received $25 million from state funds to help with the $70.7 million construction cost. Private donations made up the difference.

Construction is underway on the Carter-Harrison Research Building, which will include laboratories for vaccine therapy, immunology, infectious diseases and cancer. The $70.7 million building will offer 102,000 square feet of research space.

U.S. News and World Report ranked UVa's School of Medicine as one of the top 25 medical schools in the nation for research in 2008, one of only seven schools in the Mid-Atlantic region to make it into the top 30, along with Johns Hopkins and the University of Pennsylvania.

Martha Jefferson Hospital

Martha Jefferson Hospital is an independent, nonprofit community hospital, located at 459 Locust Ave. in Charlottesville.

With 176 acute-care beds and 450 physicians representing over 40 different specialties, Martha Jefferson offers a comprehensive range of diagnostic, medical and surgical services. The hospital is the area's largest private employer, with more than 1,600 employees.

Key hospital services include women's health, comprehensive cancer care and radiation oncology, heart and vascular care, digestive health, diagnostic and interventional radiology, same-day surgery, pain management, physical and occupational therapy, wound care services and a sleep medicine center.

The hospital's services also include minimally invasive spine surgery, retinal surgery and reproductive medicine and surgery, including in vitro fertilization.

Martha Jefferson's Emergency Department is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and works in concert with an on-site cardiac catheterization lab to provide immediate care for severe heart attack victims.

Outside the hospital, affiliated physicians have offices throughout Charlottesville and surrounding counties, including Albemarle, Augusta, Buckingham, Culpeper, Fluvanna, Greene, Madison, Nelson and Orange.

The Outpatient Care Center on Pantops Mountain at 595 Peter Jefferson Parkway provides comprehensive services for patients not requiring an overnight hospital stay. These include: a diagnostic imaging center, urgent care center, women's center, day surgery, outpatient physical and occupational therapy, wound care services, cardiac rehabilitation and a prenatal diagnosis center.

Charlottesville Free Clinic

The Charlottesville Free Clinic, a private, nonprofit agency, offers its services to those who do not have health insurance and do not qualify for free care at either hospital.

The clinic provides primary care for acute and chronic illnesses, very limited dental care and free prescription medicine through its licensed on site pharmacy.

This year, the clinic has expanded its patient education offerings to focus on overall health and wellness. New classes include smoking cessation and healthy lifestyles.

Erika Viccellio, the Free Clinic's executive director, estimates that 95 percent of the clinic's patients are employed full-time, but either their employers do not offer health insurance or they are self-employed and cannot afford health insurance. If the Free Clinic weren't open, many of them, she said, would resort to emergency room visits or not visit a doctor at all.

Since opening in 1992, the Charlottesville Free Clinic has treated more than 10,600 people and has dispensed more than 141,000 free prescriptions.

Volunteer opportunities are available during evening clinics for those with and without medical backgrounds. The clinic is particularly in need of volunteer dentists, pharmacists and internal medicine physicians. UVa undergraduates can volunteer at the Free Clinic through Madison House.

Approximately 450 health care professionals and community members volunteer with the Free Clinic every year. A majority of the clinic's annual funding comes from donations from individuals.

This year, the Free Clinic is offering a Spanish clinic night on the second Thursday of every month, during which most of the volunteer stations are staffed with Spanish-speaking interpreters to provide a welcoming atmosphere to the area's growing Hispanic population, Viccellio said. English-speaking patients can also be seen.

The Charlottesville Free Clinic is in the Charlottesville/Albemarle Health Department building at 1138 Rose Hill Drive. Patients are seen by appointment only on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings and during the day Tuesday through Friday. Volunteer interpreters are available to assist Spanish-speaking patients.