Facilities and equipment
Clinical facilities
The Department of Neurosurgery provides clinical services at four locations – the VCU Medical Center, Ambulatory Care Center, Stony Point Specialties Clinic and Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Administration Hospital.
The VCU Medical Center is the only academic medical center in Central Virginia and serves as a regional referral center for the state. This inpatient facility provides care for the most complex cases and is the only level one trauma hospital in the area. Outpatient clinics are integrated with minor procedure rooms, radiology and other ancillary testing and outpatient operating rooms.
The Ambulatory Care Center is one of VCU Medical Center’s outpatient facilities. Outpatient clinics and procedures are performed here. The building includes clinical exam rooms, staff offices, a radiology suite and seven fully equipped outpatient operating suites. The neurosurgery offices are located on the sixth floor of the ACC. This floor is integrated with clinical faculty and staff offices and the primary outpatient clinic.
A fully equipped audio-visual conference room and the Susan Helms Memorial Library are also located in the neurosurgery clinic. The library houses an extensive collection of books, journals and atlases relating to the neurosciences, as well as a work space for resident study and research.
The Stony Point Specialties Clinic, a community extension of VCU Medical Center, offers outpatient care ranging from specialty physician services to the new diagnostic techniques, treatments, clinical trials and health education. The clinic’s staff is composed of some of the most well-known experts in Richmond and Central Virginia, all of whom hold dual appointments and clinicians with the hospital and as educators and researchers at the medical school. Stony Point also hosts a branch of VCU’s Massey Cancer Center, including nationally known medical and surgical cancer specialists and state-of-the-art facilities for diagnostic testing treatment and radiation therapy.
The Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Administration Hospital offers a full range of health care services, including comprehensive outpatient care and complex inpatient services such as heart, liver and lung transplants and care of traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries. The hospital has 427 inpatient beds, six operating suites, a specialized surgical ICU and a spinal cord injury rehabilitation program. The department features a dedicated operating suite that is equipped to handle complex spine cases, as well as craniotomies for tumors and aneurysms.
Neurosurgical research facilities
Sanger Hall
Neurosurgical research is primarily located on the ninth and 12th floors and focuses on research in the areas of TBI, brain tumors and normal pressure hydrocephalus.
Medical Sciences Building
The seventh floor of this state-of-the-art facility features dedicated research in the area of TBI.
Massey Cancer Center
This advanced facility is dedicated to research in all areas of oncology.
ABIC
The ABIC conducts research, primarily in the form of clinical trials, solely in the area of TBI.
Clinical equipment
- Room 20 MCV OR
- Ceiling-mounted Moller Microscope.
- High-resolution video monitor and S-VHS VCR.
- Video printer.
- Stealth frameless stereotaxis system with touch screen, software for merging CT and MRI images, Fluoro-nav, and spine imaging modules.
- Room 18 MCV OR
- Ceiling-mounted Moller Microscope.
- High-resolution video monitor and S-VHS VCR.
- Video printer.
- Built-in plain film radiographic equipment.
- Room 25 MCV OR
- Room 6 VAMC OR
- Ceiling-mounted Moller Microscope.
- High-resolution video monitor and S-VHS VCR.
- Video printer.
- Other operating room equipment
- Portable Zeiss NC4 microscope and mobile neuroendoscopy station.
Imaging
- Institution-wide PACS - radiologic images on the PACS system are accessible from nearly every workstation in the hospital and off-site access is available through a VPN Internet client.
- Six OEC digital fluoroscopy units for spinal instrumentation with two specifically equipped for intra-operative angiography.
- Four MRI scanners (three closed scanners and one open scanner) equipped for functional MR studies including one with a 3 Tesla magnet.
- Four Spiral CT scanners equipped for stable Xenon CBF studies and Stealth protocol.
- Digital angiography suite with GDC capability.
- Three-dimensional angiography suite.
- Three-headed SPECT camera with PET capability.
- VAMC Department of Radiology
- One MRI scanner.
- Two CT scanners.
Advanced Computerized Hospital Information System
In addition the PACS system for radiology, the Health System is working toward complete utilization of an electronic medical record. Current utilization of this system integrates the inpatient and outpatient encounters. It allows for easy and rapid placement of orders and test scheduling, as well as retrieval of laboratory dad and OR and discharge summaries. This system is also accessible from outside the hospital, via secure VPN access.