Expansion Project

The critical factors in maintaining a viable and competitive community hospital are first, the reliance on quality healthcare services provided by professionals who are for the most part local residents, and second, maintaining, expanding and upgrading services available to the community.

The name Virginia Gay Hospital, Clinics, Home Health, Nursing and Rehab says a great deal about the broad variety of services currently available for the residents of Vinton and the Benton County area. The diverse assortment of hospital-based services, primarily provided by individuals from within the community, creates a caring and personalized approach for each individual patient.

Continued upgrading of existing equipment and new equipment purchases allow Virginia Gay Hospital to compete on an even playing field with more urban hospitals. Vinton and Benton County residents no longer have to drive long distances for quality testing or treatment because it is available at the same quality level locally. As with any service provider, hospitals must from time to time upgrade and renovate facilities and provide for the purchase of new and replacement equipment. Virginia Gay Hospital’s latest expansion focuses on the four areas deemed as most vital for the future of the hospital.

Acute Care

The completed expansion includes the construction of a new patient wing housing four new semi-private, 12 new private (single patient) rooms and a four bed ‘holding area’ to be used primarily by outpatient surgery patients. These rooms are a combination of both new construction and a complete reconstruction of existing space.

Emergency Room

With more than 2,400 visits to the Virginia Gay Hospital Emergency Room in fiscal year 2007, it became obvious that additional space was critically needed. The new design dedicates 4,650 square feet of space with additional ‘over-flow’ space in the nearby outpatient clinic area.

Therapy Services

With more than 2,400 visits to the Virginia Gay Hospital Emergency Room in fiscal year 2007, it became obvious that additional space was critically needed. The new design dedicates 4,650 square feet of space with additional ‘over-flow’ space in the nearby outpatient clinic area.

The Therapy Services Department was expanded to allow for a significantly larger treatment area, and space for upgraded equipment. This department deals with a wide variety of therapies including Sports Medicine, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy.

The demand for these services has grown, and continues to grow, as new technology and treatment methods become available. The development of new facilities to house sophisticated treatments such as hydrotherapy was vital to the continued development of a superior level of service.

One of the more interesting therapy developments is the inclusion of individuals who could not have benefited from these services in the past. Now, due to new technology and techniques, these individuals may also improve their quality of life. A new hydrotherapy pool will allow patients who have conditions affecting the use of their hips, legs, knees and feet to take part in therapy programs while in the water. Hydrotherapy takes advantage of the body’s buoyancy to take pressure off damaged lower portions of the body during the therapy sessions.

Current rehabilitation modalities are allowing for a high rate of success in rehabilitating many more patients than in the past. Virginia Gay Hospital has the highly trained staff to provide exceptional rehabilitation services, and with the increased space and equipment, now has the technology that matches the expertise of the staff.

Imaging Services

Virginia Gay Hospital provides a wide range of diagnostic radiological services including X-Ray, MRI Scan, CT Scan, Nuclear Medicine, Ultra Sound Echocardiography and the recent addition of a C-Arm unit required for specialized diagnosis and providing greater flexibility and mobility of the unit when required. On average last year Virginia Gay Hospital performed more than 680 radiology procedures each month or, approximately 8,200 procedures during the year.

New pieces of equipment, additional uses for existing equipment, new techniques utilized by staff, planned additions of equipment and new services all required more space than was previously available. The expansion project increased the amount of available space from 1,408 square feet to 4,650 square feet including space for a newly acquired permanent MRI unit that arrived July 20th, 2010. The new MRI unit replaces a mobile unit that was only available on Tuesdays and Fridays.

The expansion also includes a separate waiting area for patients awaiting procedures in the Imaging Services Department. A major improvement is a dedicated elevator that will bring patients directly from the Emergency Room to Imaging Services, thus avoiding the necessity of moving patients through public spaces in the hospital.

Each of these improvements will help to assure that Vinton and Benton County residents can continue to count on Virginia Gay Hospital, Clinic, Home Health, Nursing and Rehab to provide the best possible hospital-based healthcare available. The healing tradition continues at Virginia Gay Hospital.