Wake Forest Baptist Health Lexington Medical Center celebrated its new surgical facility and the community fundraising campaign that made it possible with a gala event Sept. 19.
Members of the community who spearheaded the campaign, which raised $3 million, joined leaders from Wake Forest Baptist and Lexington Medical Center at the event.
The new 26,500-square-foot surgical facility expansion opened in early September and coincided with the 40th anniversary of Lexington Medical Center’s existing campus. The $31.5 million, state-of-the-art facility includes four fully digital operating rooms that can accommodate various types of procedures and specialties, including:
- Ear, nose and throat
- Gynecology
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopaedics and joint replacements
- Urology
- General surgery
The addition also includes a post-anesthesia care unit with 10 bays where patients can recover following surgery, a urology procedure room, a spacious waiting area for families and private consultation rooms for physicians and family members.
“We have known for quite a while that our community needed and deserved a new surgical facility like this,” says Bill James, president of Lexington Medical Center. “This project ensures that the people of Lexington and Davidson County will continue to receive a full range of convenient, high-quality and specialized care and treatment close to home.”
Community support was crucial in making the project a reality, according to Lisa Marshall, Wake Forest Baptist’s chief philanthropy officer and vice president of Philanthropy and Alumni Relations.
The campaign received support from the Lexington Medical Center Foundation, individuals, families, companies, community foundations and Lexington Medical Center employees. Volunteers who mobilized to support the project included honorary co-chairs Teen and Tim Timberlake, Kristie and Thompson Miller, and Meg and Michael Holshouser.
“We have had excellent leadership in place for this campaign, from Wake Forest Baptist Health, here at Lexington Medical Center and especially from the community,” Marshall says. “What we learned shortly after this campaign began was the deep legacy of support that this community has provided here for the hospital over many decades. That kind of support begins to become part of a community’s DNA, and as new needs arise, new faces take up the leadership mantel and keep their community moving forward.
“That’s what we witnessed in this campaign, and it’s impressive to see a community continue to step up and lead in this way.”
“Many of our own staff were involved in the planning and design, so it’s been inspiring to see how people in our community have embraced this project as an investment in their own health and the health of their families and neighbors,” he says.
“The innovative, leading-edge technology in each operating room, combined with the skill and experience of our surgeons and staff, allow for more precise surgery which can often translate into better outcomes for our patients.”
The four operating rooms that had been in place since 1979 were not large enough to accommodate current patient needs. For example, where previously only one of the four rooms had enough space to handle a joint replacement surgery, all four of the new surgical spaces can be used for joint replacements.
Last year, more than 3,500 surgical procedures were performed at Lexington Medical Center. James says the new facility should allow even more procedures to be scheduled, and the state-of-the-art setting featuring the latest technology also should help attract more surgeons to Lexington.