St. Mary’s Will Include Neighbors in Planning Process

My first six months in the Richmond area have certainly borne out what I had heard about Bon Secours St. Mary's Hospital as a wonderful, caring place to heal and to work. But in making my de TONI R.
ARDABELL
cision to move here from Northern Virginia, I had not thought much about the partnership that St. Mary's and the community have with each other.

Our concerns extend beyond clinical performance to reflect our values and social responsibilities. It's extraordinary. It's something to cherish -- and to keep building upon -- as we consider the future.

Shortly before I began my duties with St. Mary's, our sister hospital in Chesterfield County, St. Francis Medical Center, launched a fascinating planning process called a charrette, led by the Miami-based urban planning firm of Duany Plater-Zyberk. The firm is a pioneer in the New Urbanism architectural movement to create urban places with a sense of community, and I understand that Bon Secours is a pioneer in bringing these concepts to the health care industry.

The charrette is a method to plan not only for the community but with the community. It's an open process that invites neighbors, businesses, planners, architects, county officials, and others to work together.

We all know that, typically, an entity creates its plans and prepares to contend with differing opinions during hearings before a planning commission, board of supervisors, or city council. The charrette, on the other hand, welcomes and embraces divergent viewpoints to understand and respect them.

At the St. Francis charrette, for example, the planners heard from a local historian about the beauty of Midlothian's landscape. As a result, they incorporated the historical setting into a landscape plan of flowering trees and environmentally low-impact infrastructure. They also listened to neighbors who wanted other community facilities and services to be welcoming around a pedestrian-friendly setting like a town square.

St. Mary's has been a vital part of the community for more than 40 years, and our mission to serve the community is clear. In some ways, the campus needs freshening and upgrading. As we plan for the decades to come, we are preparing to host a charrette.

It will be held Nov. 6-12. Because of space requirements, the opening and closing sessions will be at the Richmond Marriott. The weeklong working sessions will be in the hospital to make it easier for neighbors, employees, and patients and their families to drop by and talk with us.

We will look at how to enhance our campus and make it easier to navigate by embedding good neighborhood planning principles into our setting.

We'll also examine -- as both an institution and a neighbor -- how best we can complement and connect with life along Monument Avenue, Libbie Avenue, Bremo Road, and throughout our community. Some areas to examine include how best to support the growing -- and aging -- population of nearby neighborhoods in both the City of Richmond and Henrico County. How best can we ensure, for example, that our emergency department is properly prepared to maintain our commitment to no-wait service?

As we approach the charrette, we are exploring the needs of St. Mary's Hospital as well as the needs of the residents who live in the neighborhoods surrounding St. Mary's.

Our neighbors range from young families to boomers to older residents. We want to explore how to serve them, not only medically, but in their everyday living.

As a health care provider, it is our role and our mission to consider the well-being of our patients and neighbors. With such a wide demographic of residents, we want to ensure we are considering all generations and how we can add value to being a neighbor of St. Mary's Hospital.

For certain, we have expansion and construction needs at St. Mary's. We base our needs on the very community in which we reside. With the community's help, we hope the charrette will help us prepare a master plan to address how St. Mary's Hospital can best fulfill not only its mission in health care, but also its vision as a partner with the community.

Toni R. Ardabell is chief executive officer of Bon Secours St. Mary's Hospital. You can learn more about the charrette at http://www.bonsecours.com/charrette or become a fan on Facebook. Suggestions and comments can be emailed to