$200,000 Renovation, Remodeling Underway at VA Hospital

              Sunday, June 25, 1972 3-C THE S H R E V E P O R T T I M E S
$200,000 Renovation, Remodeling Underway at VA Hospital
Renovation, remodeling and
expansion projects totaling over
$200,000 are being done at the
Veterans Administration Hospi-tal
this summer.
Chief Engineer Floyd Kieffer
said the work is a continuation
of yearly construction to keep
the hospital up to date.
Included in the projects is the
addition of a Posthospital Care
Clinic — part of a new service
being added by the VA — and
of two major office areas.
The Posthospital Clinic, will
be located on the east wing of
the first floor, off of the waiting
room. It has easy access to a
parking lot and a ramp will be
provided for wheelchairs, Kiet-fer
said.
The VA R e g i o n a l Office,
which now has quarters on the
first floor wing will be moved to
the west wing of the basement
where the present engineering
shops are located. The shops
will be moved to o u t l y i n g
buildings back and to the west
of the hospital.
Another major project is
refurbishing, renovating and re-vamping
of the admitting room.
This will include enlarging the
waiting area for patient com-fort,
Keiffer said. Examining
rooms will be added and the
interview rooms modernized for
more privacy.
"The idea is to provide better
patient t r e a t m e n t and care
much faster . . . to streamline
service," the engineer said.
The control panel system will
be improved with installation of
an electronic control panel. The
present panel controls the air
conditioning and boiler plant,
the new one will provide visual
control for the refrigeration,
blood banks as well as the
airconditioning and boiler.
A new type air dryer will take
mositure out of the air. The fire
alarm system will be replaced.
Teacher-conference areas are
being added to the third floor
surgical service and to the
second floor medical service.
Costs of the individual projects
and the contractors f o l l o w :
r e l o c a t i n g the engineering
shops, Homer Byers contractor,
$25,387; VA R e g i o n a l Office
r e l o c a t i o n , Atlas Builders,
$30,700; new air dryers, ADS
Services, $11,500; updating the
panel system, Electrical Control
Co., $22,888; modernizing the
fire alarm system, Cahn Elec-tric
Co., $8,388, and Posthospital
Care, Atlas Builders, $30,991.
Also, revamping the admitting
area, Atlas $29,925; study of the
electrical system, Robert K.
Hawkins & Associates, Consult-ing
engineers, $4,200; surgical
service conference area, Homer
Byers, $5,973; medical confer-ence
area, Atlas, $14,725.
Included in the totals are
several small projects, all under
$5,000 each, but totaling $20,000,
Kieffer said.
These are insulation of a new
lint collector in the laundry;
installation of vinyl wall cover-ings;
additional lights in park-ing
lots; new type p a g i n g
selectors; relocation of both the
EEG clinic area and the cash-ier's
office "for better patient
service," Kieffer said.
Clinic Means
New Era in
! Vet Service
A new clinic which means a
new era in Veterans Adminis-tration
Hospital service is being
added to the local facility.
It is the Posthospital Care
Clinic or the Outpatient Treat-m
e n t Nonservice Connected
Program.
The program makes it possi-ble
for veterans who have been
released from the hospital to
come back for follow-up treat-ment,
said Dr. J. R. Hughes,
chief of staff at the VA.
It is similar to an outpatient
clinic at any private facility, he
said.
Although the program has
been in operation for four or
five months on the eighth floor,
it will be permanently located
on the east wing of the first
floor of the VA.
"We used to see patients on
each respective ward," Hughes
said.
-Included in the clinic will he a
radiology section, a station for
drawing blood for laboratory
tests; orthopedic cast room;
doctors offices and examining
rooms.
It is being d e s i g n e d and
constructed to meet the "in-c
r e a s i n g posthospital care
needs," Hughes said.
It will also confine movem-ment
of patients throughout the
hospital, "and alleviate the load
and congestion in the elevator."
The clinic will also be set up
to be used as a teaching facility
for residents and medical stu-dents,
who will be under the
direction of the various chiefs of
services.
The new service is designed,
Hughes e x p l a i n e d , to allow
hospital patients who are dis-c
h a r g e d to their homes to
continue under supervision "for
a period of time in relation to
their medical or s u r g i c a l
needs."
And the hospital official em-phasized,
"we are not in compe-tition
with private practice of
medicine." The patients are
released, he said, "as soon as
o t h e r arrangements can be
made for them to be properly
taken care of."