Clinical Facilities
The University of Virginia School of Medicine was the tenth medical school to be established in the United States, and was authorized by the University of Virginia Board of Visitors at its first meeting in 1819. The school was opened in March 1825 and the first degree offered at the University was that of the Doctor of Medicine in 1828.
- Hospital Expansion of UVa Medical Center
Currently the University of Virginia Health System comprises the School of Medicine, School of Nursing, extensive research facilities, and a tertiary care University of Virginia hospital of slightly over 600 beds. In 2009 the University of Virginia Medical Center was one of only 15 major teaching hospitals to be ranked among the nation's top 100 hospitals, according toThomson Reuters' 100 Top Hospitals. There are over 35 operating rooms at the University Hospital, all of which have been recently renovated to have state-of-the-art facilities.
Construction is currently underway at the UVA Medical center to add over 100 more beds, 75 of which will be single room critical care beds. These will be available in 2012. In addition, construction is rapidly moving along on the new Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center which will house clinic space, imaging modalities, and radiation and chemotherapy treatment facilities.
The Heart and Vascular Center comprises the fourth floor of University Hospital. The cardiothoracic surgical floor is a 30 bed unit with 6 beds dedicated as an intermediate care unit for general thoracic and cardiac surgical patients. The 12 bed intensive care unit is immediately adjacent to the ward and cares for adult cardiac surgery, general thoracic and vascular surgery patients. There is also a pediatric ICU of 10 beds and a pediatric surgical floor for the pediatric congenital heart surgery patients.
- Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center
The intensive care unit is staffed with a dedicated nurse practitioner, physician assistants as well as critical care intensivists. The surgical floor is staffed with a dedicated cardiac surgery nurse practitioner and two general thoracic nurse practitioners. In addition to the nurse practitioners and physician assistants, general surgery residents rotate on both the cardiac and thoracic surgical services.
The outpatient clinic areas are staffed with RN care coordinators and LPNs. In addition, nurse practitioners and residents actively participate in clinic. It is an expectation that the thoracic surgery fellows will participate in the outpatient office visits on a weekly basis. The General Thoracic Surgery clinics are held in the Cancer Center, while the Cardiac Surgery clinics are held in the Outpatient Primary Care Center adjacent to the hospital.
