Virginia Commonwealth University's Medical College of Virginia hospitals submitted requests of $2.5 million in improvements for terrorist preparedness to the Virginia department of health, as well as to U.S. Representative Eric I. Cantor and his terrorist task force Monday.
Hospital officials outlined its current level of preparedness and the higher level it needed to fulfill the American Hospital Association's standards, said Dean W. Broga, director for the office of environmental health and safety at VCU health system.
"My hopes are that the state or federal government will realize that the hospitals need support," Broga said.
Cantor responded positively to the proposal.
"I commend MCVH and the VCU Health System and their management for the leadership they have shown when confronting what can only be described as a complex mission in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks," Cantor said in prepared remarks. "I have pledged to go to Washington and fight for additional resources for MCVH if they are needed to guarantee our readiness in the face of this new threat."
MCV hospital is a level one trauma center and is the command center for the Richmond area. It has 13 other sister hospitals in the central Virginia region.
The improvements call for money to train several hundred staff for terrorism preparation, high volume deluge showers and ramps, and a base of supplies, including pharmaceuticals and antidotes.
These costs would be both initial and ongoing, Broga said.
Federal law states that all severely injured patients must go to a level one trauma center.
In case of an emergency there would be an influx of bothpeople who only thought they were contaminated and those who really are in danger.
"We must be prepared because by default we are going to be stuck getting these patients no matter what," he said.
University Medical Center officials in Charlottesville have been preparing for terrorism for a couple of years.
"The medical center has done drills as a part of the emergency preparedness program," University Medical Center spokeswoman Marguerite Beck said. "We have been working on bio-terrorism scenarios for the past three years."
They also are looking at the needs of the health system.
"We are in the process of assessing what we might need," Beck said.
The Charlottesville and Albemarle area has not reported any incidents of suspected bioterrorism. Officials ruled out anthrax as the suspicious substance appearing on the steps of Madison Hall in October.
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