Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU is turning two!

Richmond’s largest pediatrics hospital will celebrate two year birthday on Saturday

June 25, 2012; 1:24 PM • by Stephen Nielsen

In 2010, VCU Health System and the Children’s Hospital of Richmond merged, forming the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU (CHoR). On Saturday, June 30th, the CHoR celebrates its two year anniversary. It’s the area’s only full-service children’s hospital, with 13 locations and 120 pediatric specialists in both Richmond and Fredericksburg.

“By joining VCU Health System and Children’s Hospital, Richmond gained a strong children’s health care provider,” said Leslie Wyatt, vice president of children’s services and executive director for CHoR in a statement. “We have made children’s health a top priority for our region, and we have attracted a number of new pediatric specialists to the area. In fact, over the past three years, we have increased the pediatric faculty by 20%, significantly improving access to care for pediatricians and their patients.”

At the age of two, the CHoR has room to grow. Through investments by the VCU Health System, additions have been made like a 40-bed private room neonatal intensive care unit. It also provided the only pediatric emergency room in the region with 24/7 access to pediatric sub-specialists. Also, in 2011, a state-of-the-art nephrology¹ program was created, thanks to investment by the Children’s Hospital Foundation. The program averages more than 30 outpatient visits a week and construction plans are underway to add a new ambulatory pavilion to meet the growing number of outpatients.

“Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU is vital to the Richmond community,” said Bruce Rubin, M.D., physician-in-chief of Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU and chair of the VCU Department of Pediatrics. “Pediatrics is a priority, as evidenced by our dedicated people, programs and facilities that support the specific health needs of children.”

Some of the pediatric care offered by CHoR includes emergency, primary, secondary, and long term. The hospital is also involved in medical research, working on advances in asthma, cancer, cystic fibrosis, genetics, infectious diseases, obesity and many other fields.

In honor of the celebration, the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU is offering community members a chance to win a prize by entering on either Facebook or Twitter.

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