March 11, 2003

Capital District Kiwanis donate $4,900 to PICU at VCU Health System

Group members tour Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, see plans for renovation

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By Michael Ford
University News Services

Representatives of the Capital District Kiwanis Foundation (CDKF) have donated $4,900 to the VCU Health System's Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

Capital District Kiwanis Foundation Trustee Roy Sheets shakes hands with pediatrics chairman Joseph Laver, M.D., while contributing a check for $4,900. Looking on from left are Paul Royer, Tuckahoe Kiwanis; Don Sloan, Hanover Kiwanis; H.R. Coates, North Richmond Kiwanis; Tyler Harris, Richmond Kiwanis; Lauren Goodloe, director Pediatric Nursing; Joe Stankus, Lt. Gov., Capital District Kiwanis; John Mickell, M.D., chair, Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine; Mary Walker, R.N., nurse manager, Pediatric Intensive Unit. Photo courtesy of VCUHS Office of Development
Capital District Kiwanis Foundation Trustee Roy Sheets shakes hands with pediatrics chairman Joseph Laver, M.D., while contributing a check for $4,900. Looking on from left are Paul Royer, Tuckahoe Kiwanis; Don Sloan, Hanover Kiwanis; H.R. Coates, North Richmond Kiwanis; Tyler Harris, Richmond Kiwanis; Lauren Goodloe, director Pediatric Nursing; Joe Stankus, Lt. Gov., Capital District Kiwanis; John Mickell, M.D., chair, Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine; Mary Walker, R.N., nurse manager, Pediatric Intensive Unit. Photo courtesy of VCUHS Office of Development

A VCUHS team briefed the Kiwanis members on plans for a $2.5 million renovation and relocation of the PICU on the seventh floor of Main Hospital, 401 N. 12th St. The unit's role in the overall mission of the Children's Medical Center also was reviewed.

"We care for children and families. We are a center that provides cutting edge care, with all the disciplines and all the physicians for pediatric specialties," said Joseph Laver, M.D., Jesse Ball duPont professor and chairman of the Department of Pediatrics. "As we are part of an academic medical center, we're committed to educating the next generation of physicians and nurses. And research is our third component, with funding supported by NIH and industry sources."

The VCU Health System's pediatric intensive care unit is a 12-bed critical care area, staffed for the care of critically ill children, including heart surgery patients, liver transplant patients and head injury patients. Fully equipped with the latest instrumentation and life support techniques, the PICU is a referral site for hospitals in the Richmond area and regional hospitals from South Hill to the Northern Neck and Farmville to Williamsburg.

Formed in September 1972, CDKF is a unit of the Capital District Kiwanis International, which covers Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Since 1987, CDKF has contributed $325,500 to seven pediatric trauma hospitals, including $46,500 to the VCUHS Children's Medical Center.