Applause for new facility

Charlottesville Daily Progress
Published: May 11, 2008

The curtain went up to community applause last week on Martha Jefferson Hospital’s plans for a new 176-bed facility on Pantops. The hospital’s design, and its siting on an 88-acre plot at Peter Jefferson Place, were unveiled at an appropriate venue, the Paramount Theater. Those involved in the design and siting discussions deserve rave reviews.

The architectural renderings of the five-story structure show the building in harmony not only with the existing Outpatient Care Center already on Pantops, but also with the contours of the land. It is clear that the hospital’s leadership has striven to ensure that the new building will be low impact in its elevation. Remarkably, the building appears to be but two stories from its front entrance. That’s because planners took advantage of the large slope on the site to design the majority of the stories into the hillside.

Of course, perhaps more so than most buildings, it’s not what’s outside that counts with a hospital. Understandably, then, Martha Jefferson officials began their design discussions focused on the interior of the nearly half-million square-foot structure.

Clearly, the interior is focused on the patient, the customer, if you will. The facility will house all-private rooms for patients. There are accommodations for families who wish to stay overnight with their loved ones. There’s a dining room on the scenic fourth floor of the facility. And thought went into the location of the main entrance on the third floor, where there’s also birthing rooms, a nursery and space for general as well as female-specific surgeries.

Also included will be state-of-the-art facilities such as an emergency room (with the emphasis on “room”), eight operating rooms, an intensive care unit, a physical therapy department and an oncology facility with radiation equipment.

If the hospital’s construction timetable goes according to plan, all this will be a reality in four years.

And although the building is designed to be a structure with low impact on the landscape, it is already evident that the new Martha Jefferson Hospital is having a high-profile impact on further development in the Pantops area. Virginia National Bank, for instance, is cutting the ribbon on its new multi-story building just down the mountain, and there’s a restaurant coming out of the ground in front of a relatively new hotel at Peter Jefferson Place. There’s bound to be more to come in the way of professional office space for physicians and other related facilities serving the needs of the hospital and its patients.

This planned new facility should long meet the health care needs of the region. As President and CEO Jim Haden says, “It’s about a great space for our doctors and our caregivers to take care of the community members who come and use Martha Jefferson Hospital for the next 100 years.”

Dogs gone from laps?

Those lap dogs are driving Assemblyman Bill Maze to distraction.

Worse, they may be driving drivers to distraction.

The California legislator has introduced a bill to ban motorists from holding pets in their laps.

He was appalled to see a woman with three dogs on her lap while tooling down the street. He says pets chauffeured thusly can divert drivers’ attention and put other motorists at risk.

But, oh, pity the poor celebs who love to cruise L.A. with their pets as conspicuous accessories. No more Fifi in the front seat.