A refurbished unit at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center was unveiled Wednesday.
The 20 spacious single-patient rooms in 6A at the downtown division on 15th Street will be available for acute care patients beginning Monday, according to Dr. Robin Jackson, the medical center’s executive director.
“This was approved two years ago,” he said.
A year of planning and design followed, and the renovations took another year, he said. The floor was completely gutted
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Painted in a soothing sage green, the rooms also have large windows allowing the natural light to fill the space. The hospital has shifted from incandescent and fluorescent light fixtures to LED ones, according to Andrea Todd, the interior designer who worked on the project.
The new lighting isn’t cold and harsh like the others can be, she said.
The hallways feature photographs of Southeastern landscapes and close-ups of various plants.
The floors in the patient rooms are covered in a sheet vinyl with a wood-grained pattern.
“They are cleanable with just water,” she said. “They are a lot different from the vinyl compound tile in the rest of the hospital.”
The beds are the latest in technology and allow the patient to be moved from a lying to standing position with the touch of a button. This allows for less stress on patients when moving them. It also keeps nurses from straining their backs, according to Lauren Green, the unit’s nurse manager.
The nurses’ station features state of the art computers and systems.
Jackson said 6A will soon be joined by the 6C patient wing to provide additional private rooms for hospitalized veterans. Another project is underway at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center’s uptown division off Wrightsboro Road.
A ribbon cutting is being planned for January for a state-of-the-art, 19-bed, long-term care facility, according to Jackson.
The space will have a library and theater, he said.
Also, there are plans for a mental health facility.
Jackson said officials were proud to be able to expand care to the nation’s veterans.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
