DELIVER TO: Postal Patron Mechanicsville, VA 23111
STOPS AT EVERY HOME IN TOWN
Community rallies to support local man injured in accident By Jodi Deal jdeal@mechlocal.com When Grayson Kirby arrived at the University of Virginia Medical Center on June 7, things looked grim. The 31-year-old Studley native had been catching a ride to his truck at a motorsports event that night in Ruckersville when the vehicle he was riding in flipped and he was ejected, according to his brother, Graham Kirby. Kirby’s injuries were catastrophic. He sustained major head trauma, scores of broken bones and punctured and collapsed lungs, Graham said. Initially, the prognosis wasn’t good. Doctors told the Kirby family that Grayson had a five percent chance of survival. He was put into a medically induced coma and hooked up to a heart and lung machine.
PRSRT. STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID Mechanicsville, VA Permit No.141
Vol. 31, No. 8 | Richmond Suburban Newspapers | June 25, 2014
Emergency center opens at Rutland Director: ‘most proud of sta ’ By Jodi Deal jdeal@mechlocal.com
GRAYSON KIRBY
“They just shut him down as much as they could without killing him to rest everything, give everything a chance to recover from the trauma,� Graham said. The family had no way to imagine what would happen over the next two weeks. What started as a Facebook page where friends and family could keep up with Grayson’s progress and share happy memories has swelled to more see GRAYSON pg. 5
Four days before Hanover Emergency Center’s June 16 grand opening, director Lee Van Sise, RN, and his staff were putting the finishing touches on the new $10 million facility located at the entrance to the Rutland mixed-use development. Nurses in new deep blue scrubs were participating in employee orientation workshops as computer technicians double-checked software in the facility’s resuscitation room, which was stocked with several different code carts full of medicine and equipment the staff will use to stabilize the most critical patients. Some staff members unpacked boxes of equipment and supplies, while others tested automatic doors leading to the
HANOVER’S #1 LOCAL BUILDER!
Come see our five decorated models in Hanover
We build on your lot or ours!
Jodi Deal/The Local
Members of the staff of the new Hanover Emergency Center spent two weeks before the facility’s June 16 grand opening getting the facility ready for patients. Center director Lee Van Sise, center, is flanked by most of his nursing staff, who were on-site on June 12 for employee orientation workshops.
facility’s attached imaging unit, joking like old friends. “Our team is what we’re the most proud of,� Sise said, noting that the 45 to 50 employees will keep the emergency facility running around the clock. “We’ll be open 24/7 — we’ll never close,� Sise said, noting that
ER physicians and imaging staff will be on-site all the time, not called in when needed. Artwork created by Pole Green Elementary School students lines the hallways between the facility’s 12 treatment rooms, which include a special pediatrics room, and its on-site lab.
In addition to healthcare equipment like cardiac monitors, each patient room also has a television and telephone for convenience. Sise said the team that developed the HCA Virginia freestanding ER, which is technically see CENTER, pg. 4
www.r-ci.net
804-249-2798