Martha Jefferson Seeks Care Upgrades

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Jul 12, 2005

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By Sarah Barry / Daily Progress staff writer

July 9, 2005

Martha Jefferson Hospital, to keep up with growing patient demand, is seeking to add a third MRI unit and a CT Simulator. The hospital also has hired a spine surgeon who will bring new surgical capabilities to its staff.

The surgeon, Dr. William Supovich, works for the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth and will not join Martha Jefferson until March. "Our current staff can only operate on parts of the back," explained Ron Cottrell, the hospital's vice president of planning. "Dr. Supovich will be able to operate on the entire spine."

The reasons for the new additions are twofold, Cottrell said. The hospital is both trying to "expand the scope of services we offer to our community" and respond to an increased volume of patients.

As the community grows, so does the demand for hospital services, Cottrell said. The eight counties the hospital serves all have experienced steady growth. Charlottesville, Albemarle, Fluvanna and Greene grew from a total of 159,576 people in 2000 to 168,000 in 2003 - a 5.2 percent increase in only three years.

"We are trying to keep up to date with the increase in demand," Cottrell said. The growing population and the growing medical staff at Martha Jefferson will be taken into account when the hospital begins designing its new location in the Albemarle County office park on Pantops. That building will not be built for another couple of years.

The hospital already has two MRI units, one in the main hospital and the other in the Outpatient Care Center on Peter Jefferson Parkway. Both are "running at full capacity," Cottrell said.

The CT Simulator would be added to the hospital's cancer care program at the hospital and would be used specifically for radiation therapy. The simulator is used to target radiation beams directly at a tumor, leaving healthy parts of the body unharmed.

The CT Simulator and the MRI unit would be paid for by the state, if Martha Jefferson's funding request is approved. Both the Thomas Jefferson Health Council and the Health Systems Agency have endorsed the request.

Stuart Mills, the associate director of the Northwestern Virginia Health Systems Agency, said that the state approves more than 90 percent of the council's recommendations. "We see eye-to-eye on most of the projects," Mills said.

Cottrell is pleased with the boards' recommendations and is looking forward to the state's decision, which is expected to come this fall. "We hope the positive continues," he said.