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By Steve Cook
“The devil’s in the details,” Dave Fikse tells me. Fikse, the CEO of Southside Regional Medical Center (SRMC) in Petersburg, is referring to the grand opening of the new SRMC (slated for July 28th). It’s been years in the planning and construction. It’s grown from a dream to a sparkling, modern structure. But now, the real job begins.
Most businesses can simply shut down over the weekend, or longer if necessary, when moving into a new facility; with a hospital that’s not an option. “In effect,” says Fikse, “for a short while, we’ll be operating two hospitals.”
 While it’s only been about 15 months since groundbreaking, Fikse says that for the past year, the hospital staff, along with the Petersburg Police Department, area rescue squads, and even V-DOT, has been discussing and planning the logistics involved in the transfer of approximately 200 patients. Amazingly, this transfer, from start to finish, will be completed in five hours. “Every ninety seconds another patient will head out (to the new hospital),” Fikse tells me.
“Each patient,” he says, “will be given a pre-move exam, to ensure that it is safe to transport him or her.” Most of the patients will be taken by ambulance from the old facility about five minutes from the new SRMC, which is located just off Crater and Wagner Roads in south Petersburg. As the transfer is taking place, V-DOT officials will be stationed along the Interstates and highways to, almost simultaneously, replace or revise highway signage directing motorists to the new hospital.
Despite the work ahead, Fikse, as well as SRMC’s marketing director, Terry Tysinger, exude excitement over the long-anticipated opening, and the ushering in of what is being described as a “New Era in Healthcare.” As I visit with the two in mid June, the building, especially from the outside, looks ready to open its doors now. Inside, however, workers are busy moving in new furniture and putting the finishing touches on this spacious facility.
We sit in the two-story, glass-walled reception area. The comfortable, upholstered chairs and sofas are still in storage. Collapsible tables and folding chairs fill the room in anticipation of pre-opening tours and events to show off this new hospital. It’s easy to imagine the hustle and bustle that will soon fill the building. But along with all the activity, comes a wide range of emotions that are encountered every day in such an environment. The hospital is really all about the people, those who work there, those who receive vital medical care there, those who visit family and friends there.
“Having a modern physical plant is great,” Fikse says, “but it must be used to the best advantage.” That “best advantage” involves caring for the thousands who will enter these doors each year. As Terry Tysinger conducts me on a tour of the facility, it appears that a lot of thought as been given as to how best to care for those needs.
“You will notice,” she says as she leads me down the hall, out of the reception area, “that our ED (Emergency Department) is located adjacent to the main entrance.” Having had several occasions of getting lost trying to find emergency rooms that are located far from the lobbies of many hospitals, I can quickly see the advantage of such positioning. I can also appreciate some of the other amenities that the new ED offers. For instance, gone are the patient cubicles, with curtains for walls. These are replaced with individual treatment rooms. Modern, almost space-age-like, medical equipment is being installed as we move through the area.
“Our new ED,” Tysinger says, “offers about two-and-a-half times the room we have now.” The new SRMC’s Emergency Department also offers two specialized trauma areas and two cardiac areas. Tysinger tells me that over 45,000 patients are seen in the hospital’s ED annually.
As the tour continues, I am impressed at the planning that must have gone into such a facility. Hidden behind the scenes are separate hallways for the use of hospital staff. I remember times when I had been wheeled on a gurney through crowds of people, feeling much like a parade float; I can appreciate, from a patient’s standpoint, the value of the “hidden hallways.” And, no doubt, hospital staff, patients, and visitors will all benefit from such.
This is indeed an amazing new facility... one that is designed to truly serve the community. Terry Tysinger says of the new SRMC, “It’s a great future.” She then pauses. With the opening just weeks away, she corrects herself, “The future is now.”
To learn more about the new Southside Regional Medical Center, visit www.srmconline.com.
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