The Queen Poised for Major Growth Spurt

BY MARSHA DORGAN

Big happenings are about to take form at Queen of the Valley Medical Center.

After more than 10 years in the planning, Napa’s community hospital is set to open the doors of its latest state-of-the-art medical facility in October.

The Herman Family Pavilion, a 72,000-square-foot, three-story building behind the main facility on Trancas Street, will be the new home to six operating rooms, the intensive care unit and the clinical and pathology laboratory.

“The Herman Family Pavilion will be a wonderful asset for the Napa community,” said Vanessa deGier, director of communications and marketing.

“There has been a vast amount of medical technology advancement since the 1980s,” deGier said, adding, “this gives us the space and most modern equipment to meet today’s standards.”

The new building, along with other sections of the hospital will now meet the seismic standards that all hospitals must  adhere to by 2015, she added.

All of the imaging and other procedures can be done right in the new hybrid operating rooms.

“Now, if surgery patients need other equipment during surgery, they have to be transported other rooms,” deGier  said. “This a much more efficient way for the surgeons to do their jobs.”

The entire first floor will be a diagnostic and laboratory facility, which will service the needs of the entire hospital and its patients.

The second floor is dedicated to the surgical team also offering private rooms for pre-and-post surgical patients.

The top floor belongs to the new ICU.

The 20-private-bed unit will also be equipped with pull out couches and bathrooms in each patient’s room, allowing their families to be close to them 24/7.

The existing operating rooms will remain with the addition to six new ones.

The current ICU ward will be used for something different, deGier said. “What exactly that will be has not yet been decided.”

The old laboratory on the first floor of the hospital behind the main lobby will be removed. “It is not up to earthquake seismic standards, she said. “However, the lobby is and will stay.”

The 191-bed hospital is also in the process of converting the existing building so all the patients’ rooms will be private. “So far, we have completed 20 rooms and hope to have them all finished within a year,” deGier said.

The Herman Family Pavilion also boasts a gold Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) certificate, meaning the majority of the facility is built with recyclable products, being the first hospital in Northern California to achieve the honor.

The Herman Family Pavilion did not come without a hefty price tag.

The hospital embarked on a campaign to raise $30 million of the $122 million needed.

“We have received $23 million to date,” deGier said. “And we totally expect to reach our goal.”

The bulk of the money raised has come from large private donations, including a substantial one from the Tim Herman family, deGier said. “We have got about $400,000 in donations from the hospital employees.”

The Queen will fund the remaining portion of cost through debt and operating funds.

The Queen employs 1,365 people, which does not include the doctors. Three hundred doctors have obtained privileges to use the hospital services.

“We do not pay them,” deGier said. “They are independent contractors.”