More than 1,000 Guests Receive First Look at New Virtua Voorhees Hospital

VOORHEES, N.J. — Virtua recently opened the doors to its new Voorhees Hospital to more than 1,000 guests for the first look at one of the nation’s most innovative hospitals, designed with a focus on quality, safety, digital technology and an outstanding patient experience. The project architect was Hammel, Green & Abrahamson (HGA). Turner Construction Company served as construction manager.

Dubbed “the hospital of the future,” it encompasses 680,000 square-feet and provides 368 beds in private patient rooms. “It will transform healthcare in South Jersey and the region,” says Richard P. Miller, Virtua’s CEO.

The new Virtua Voorhees hospital has been the region’s largest healthcare construction project in the past seven years, creating a critically important lifeline for the economy of the region.

Nearly 10 years of planning, including 34 months of construction, culminated in a hospital that consists of 5,400 tons of steel, 19,700 yards of concrete and 18 million feet of cable on 40 acres of land. But beyond the bricks and mortar, patients, families and staff are at the heart of the design.

“In designing the Virtua Voorhees hospital, we examined more than 180 processes and designed the facility based on the way clinicians and patients actually function in the hospital environment,” said Miller. “We took that knowledge and applied it system-wide to in order to deliver an outstanding patient experience at all of our hospitals. Creating this new hospital environment is only one of the many ways we are changing the face of healthcare in New Jersey.”

The space was designed around workflow and the patient care process. Physicians, nurses, patients and the community all had input in creating a design that works. Architects incorporated that input into the design and made needed adjustments such as decentralizing supplies and medication stations by locating them in multiple areas, closer to patient rooms with everything where and when it is needed. This places caregivers exactly where they want to be, in direct contact with the patient to offer comfort, perform procedures and administer care. It is a new design for healing that changes the way healthcare is delivered by putting the patient at the center of every experience.

Virtua designed the hospital to fully integrate the newest medical technology, from diagnostic and treatment equipment to advanced information technology and electronic medical records, with the ability to adopt new technologies into the future. This ensures that each patient receives the right care at the right time and in the right place. The new operating rooms offer sophisticated, digital design and advanced technologies that allow less invasive treatments, shortening recovery times and returning patients to normal much more quickly than in the past.

The healing environment goes beyond advanced technology and exceptional clinical staff by incorporating the use of natural light, healing gardens, walking paths and meditation spaces. Every room in the new hospital is private to provide personal space for optimum healing. Studies show this environment reduces stress when a person is not well. Private rooms also enable a family member to stay overnight on a comfortable sleep sofa in the patient’s room, providing freedom for confidential conversations between patients, family and caregivers.

“Virtua’s mission was to build a medical campus from the ground up and include features that enable us to adapt to the rapidly evolving world of medicine and technology for generations to come, while placing the focus on the patient and the family,” said Miller. “Looking around me today I am proud to say that we have accomplished this goal.”

A community open house is set for 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sunday, May 1. Virtua officially opens the new campus to patients on May 22. Log on to www.virtua.org to read about all of the programs and services that will be included in the new facility.

Photo from www.virtua.org.