Sacred Heart Medical Center, Eugene’s largest hospital, is on-schedule to open its new Springfield campus in summer 2008, where it will relocate most of its services and staff from its campus on Hilyard Street.
But hospital officials are trying to figure out how many student volunteers, the majority of whom come from the University, will also make the move to Springfield.
PeaceHealth, the parent organization of Sacred Heart, plans to relocate most of the Hilyard campus’ operations to the new site, known as Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend, when construction is finished.
Officials say the move to RiverBend will help operations at Hilyard, which has been in continuous use for 70 years and is maxed-out for space. PeaceHealth’s new RiverBend Campus will employ about 2,200 people and hold 362 beds, said Philip Farrington, director of land use planning and management with PeaceHealth.
PeaceHealth plans to spend $97 million to renovate the Hilyard campus after the RiverBend campus is complete. The improvements will include tearing down three of its oldest buildings, retrofitting the other buildings with new technology and offering new medical services and institutes. It will reduce the number of beds from 432 to 104 beds and the number of employees to 1,400. Many specialists’ office will also be moving to Springfield.
The Hilyard campus will be renamed Sacred Heart Medical Center, University District, said hospital spokeswoman Andrea Ash.
The Hilyard campus, located two blocks from the University, offers limited positions for 70 to 80 student volunteers every school term, said Lynne Lafey, director of Volunteer Services. About 80 percent of student volunteers this term are from the University, while the rest come from Lane Community College and Northwest Christian College, she said.
Lafey said the new renovation at Hilyard beginning in 2008 might affect how many student volunteer positions are available. She said the hospital is still trying to determine how many students will be at each campus, although some new programs at Hilyard, such as a rehabilitation center and Behavioral Health Services, will offer new volunteer opportunities.
More than half of those volunteers may be moving to work at the new complex.
Senior biochemistry major Brian Truong said volunteering at the Hilyard campus helped him decide to go into medicine. Truong, the co-president of the pre-medical honors group, Oregon Asklepiads, said about one-third of the group’s members volunteer at Sacred Heart, which is the closest volunteer option for pre-med students.
“Having the experience and interacting with the professionals and patients really helped me understand what the health profession was about,” Truong said. “I definitely know for a fact that Hilyard is the most popular place for students.”
Tasks for volunteers range from stocking supplies and running errands for staff to cleaning rooms and helping patients. Lafey said more than one-half of the volunteers will probably go to RiverBend. The hospital is also looking at transport options to RiverBend such as hospital vans and buses, she said.
“The obvious challenge is to keep the program strong and manageable for students since we’re moving out of the neighborhood,” Lafey said. “I think most students will probably find more excitement at RiverBend.”
Sophomore biochemistry major and Asklepiads co-president Xiang Gao, who volunteers in the emergency room at Sacred Heart, said the hospital allows students to see how major hospitals operate and to explore the different departments. She said it would be very difficult for her to go to Springfield because of transportation and because closer volunteer opportunities in medicine wouldn’t offer the same experience.
“I think there’s no shortage of health volunteer opportunities, but big hospitals allow you to explore the different departments and to see what you want to do,” Gao said.
Contact the city, state politics reporter at [email protected]
Hospital move may affect students
Daily Emerald
March 14, 2007
0
More to Discover