Carilion Breaks Ground for Patient-Centered Care
Roanoke, VA - November 15, 2007
For many years, the triangular section of land on the corner of Jefferson Street and Reserve Avenue has been an important, albeit low-key, part of the foundation of Roanoke’s economy. In the early 1900s, it served the region’s most important industry as the site of a Norfolk and Western Railway roundhouse, a distinctive, curved structure running along Reserve. Years later, healthcare was the region’s dominant industry, and Carilion created its first, freestanding information Services facility on the site – keeping the organization’s hospitals and doctor’s offices at the forefront of information technology in medicine.
Today, the site continues to stay in step with the region’s developing future. On Nov. 15, 2007, Clinic and community leadership broke ground for a new 211,000-sq.-ft., $70 million outpatient facility. The curved structure will sit on the corner of the lot, near the original site of the railroad roundhouse, and serve as the cornerstone of the growing medical home for Carilion Clinic.
"When we reorganized and formed the Clinic last year, our goal was to start a process that puts the patient at the center of healthcare and improves quality and service," Carilion Clinic president and CEO Edward G. Murphy, M.D., said. "This facility will be a place to bring doctors, patients and advanced equipment together in a more collaborative way."
The outpatient facility will become the home of many Carilion Clinic specialists and patient support services. Doctors will work with a single, unified electronic medical record. Patient care, appointments, diagnostic tests and other services can be coordinated in a way that is convenient for patients, and brings faster diagnosis and treatment.
"Locating many of our specialists under one roof will make it easier for patients to navigate, and easier for our doctors to collaborate," Chief Medical Officer Mark Werner, M.D., said. "Patients have increasingly complex health issues, and when doctors work together, and have the right technology, patient care improves."
"The Clinic is about people, not buildings," Carilion Chief Operating Officer Nancy Agee said. "This groundbreaking is exciting because this will be the place where care takes a big step forward."
