VCU opens new comprehensive liver care unit with 39 beds
VENN
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is opening a new comprehensive liver care unit with 39 beds.
Tomorrow, April 1, health leaders at VCU will open a 39-bed Comprehensive Liver Care Unit at VCU Medical Center.
According to the university, the liver care unit will offer pre-operative and post-operative care to liver transplant patients with the VCU Health Hume-Lee Transplant Center -- providing intensive and immediate care private suites with bathrooms.
The new was launched in efforts to spread awareness of liver disease identified across the nation.
“I think that we were really intentional about how we built our liver program here,” said David Bruno, M.D., FACS, director of Hume-Lee Transplant Center. “We started out trying to serve our community but really what’s happened is that our community has broadened to the region and now we are taking care of patients as far away as California and Hawaii.”
VCU Health System's Board of Directors approved $38 million in June 2023 for this new expansion of the liver transplant services.
VCU new 39-bed liver care unit (VCU Health)
VCU new 39-bed liver care unit (VCU Health)
VCU new 39-bed liver care unit (VCU Health)
VCU new 39-bed liver care unit (VCU Health)
VCU new 39-bed liver care unit (VCU Health)
VCU new 39-bed liver care unit (VCU Health)
“We have all the expertise they need in one place to be collaborating at bedside with the patient to augment their care on a daily basis,” said Joel Wedd, M.D., medical director of the liver transplant program for Hume-Lee.
VCU said the unit will include a physical therapy room, designated family spaces, an outdoor garden, as well as offices for nurses, physicians and psychologists.
The patient's rooms feature photography from local artist, Bill Draper. The artwork is said to be centered around nature and the symbolization of a second chance at life.
“The non-run of the mill cases, the cases that require you to think outside the box – you have creative people here not just in a silo thinking about it but working together to understand that plan or the next step in that research to help the patient,” Wedd said.
Statistics show that over 40% of adults in the nation have fatty liver disease -- resulting in VCU's Hume-Lee liver program seeing an 18% increase in organ transplants between 2023 and 2024.
“Adding these beds allows us to take better care of our community, and really, better care than most centers are providing, and I’m really proud of that,” Bruno said.
