New Outpatient Care Center Allows for Quick, Emergency Care, Close to Home.
When there’s an emergency, time takes center stage, and getting help as quickly as possible becomes top priority. For people living in northern Albemarle County, as well as in Greene, Madison and Orange counties, access to emergency care just got a whole lot quicker, with the recent opening of Martha Jefferson’s new 24/7 Emergency Department and Outpatient Care Center at Proffit Road.
there was going to be growth in the northern part of our area,” said Ron Cottrell, vice president of planning for Martha Jefferson. “We feel it’s our responsibility to make sure people can access healthcare without having
to travel far, so we’re glad to see the new facility open.” The new Emergency Department, which features 13 private patient rooms, accepts both walk-ins and patients transported by ambulance. “Having the ability to accept ambulances is a huge plus for the community,” said Mary Wolfe, supervisor of the freestanding Emergency Department. “We are a dedicated Emergency Department, ready to take care of our patients’ illnesses and injuries.” Thoughtful Planning, Top-Notch Facility While the Proffit Road Emergency Department itself is brand new, a portion of the facility actually was opened back in 1997 to house the Forest Lakes Family Medicine practice, as well as provide mammography and bone density scanning services. Anticipating an increasing need for medical services in the area, Martha Jefferson eventually made the decision to expand services and develop the site into a full-service Outpatient
Care Center.
“Now that the new facility is open, many people who made the trip all the way to Pantops in the past will no longer have to make that trek, as they will be able to get the same complement of services at the Proffit Road location,” said Janet Silvester, director of pharmacy and emergency services. “The new Outpatient Care Center allows Martha Jefferson to provide healthcare services much closer to home for many communities.” Just as in the case of the new hospital, physicians, nurses and staff members played a significant role in the design process for the Proffit Road center, applying front-line expertise to create a facility that would help caregivers deliver the safest possible services.
“While we used many of the same best practices included in the design of the Emergency Department at the main hospital, we also customized a few things specifically for our site,” said Wolfe. “We spent several weeks training and orienting staff to the new space to make sure we were ready to care for our patients when they came through the doors.” A Successful Partnership with Sentara Prior to the merger of Martha Jefferson and Sentara in June 2011, the two organizations had worked together on several projects — but the Outpatient Care Center at Proffit Road was the first joint effort between the two on such a large scale. “Sentara had a great wealth of knowledge in terms of opening ambulatory facilities, so when we started thinking about the project, it only made sense to talk with them,” said Cottrell. “In addition, they have a vast array of resources to aid in strategic planning, and they brought a wealth of knowledge to the table as we considered exactly which services our patients might need most from the Proffit Road center.” Serendipitously, Martha Jefferson and Sentara finalized their merger just a few weeks before construction on the Outpatient Care Center began, and the project now stands as a wonderful example of the benefits the partnership will provide to our community for many years to come.
