Although
it was a cold winter morning in January, approximately 200
community leaders and supporters of Civista gathered in
a heated tent to celebrate the ground breaking for the expansion
of the Civista Medical Center. The January 10 ceremony was
held on the grounds of the former Town Hall, which will
be replaced by parking and a new medical center front entrance
on Garrett Avenue.
The
ground breaking site was only a few hundred yards away from
the building which housed the original hospital which opened
in 1939. The land was also the site of the former Jarwood
Clinic, where J. Parran Jarboe, MD and Arthur O. Wooddy,
MD had their medical practice for many years.
Attending
the ceremony were Civista staff leadership, Board of Directors,
Auxilians, Foundation supporters, previous board members,
local and state government officials, and key business and
organization leaders. Representatives from Ellerbe Beckett,
the architectural firm, and Gilbane Building Company, the
construction firm, were also present.
Outlining
the goals of the expansion and what it would entail were
Chris Stefanides, President and Chief Executive Officer
of Civista Health; Barbara Stepura, Chair of the Board;
Seetaramayya Nagula, MD, Chief of Staff of Civista Medical
Center; Carolyn Core, Vice President, Corporate Services,
and Susan Vogel, Executive Director of the Civista Health
Foundation. Also speaking were Wayne Cooper, President,
Charles County Commissioners and Robert Sterling, Chair,
Civista Health Foundation. Rev. Dr. William Miller, pastor
of the First Baptist Church of La Plata gave the invocation.
In the
afternoon, employees came by to enjoy refreshments while
viewing the exhibits of the new addition and interior renovations
and design elements.
Elements
of the expansion will include a new 10-bed, third-floor
coronary care unit over the existing east tower, a four-story
addition with a new, expanded and replaced Emergency Department,
and 60 new private patient rooms. In addition to the relocation
of the main entrance to Garrett Avenue, the project will
include replacement of the operating room suites, a new
lobby, gift shop, more parking, and significant renovations
to the existing medical center.
The
building project is scheduled for completion in mid-2007
and will more than double the size of the existing medical
center.
