mushroom amid the splendor of the forest. But Chesapeake citizens who passed by the site daily and contributed their time and money, know otherwise.” Walter Broadnax was among those attending the ceremony. He filled with pride, as the dignitaries, one by one, praised the hospital authority. “I had a little something to do with the caring of patients in that hospital,” he thought as he looked at the shining, new building. “It was all done for that reason.”
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Any Doctor to the ER! Stat!
T
he hospital wasn’t ready for business that afternoon; it wasn’t scheduled to open until the next morning. Following the dedication, however, groups of visitors took tours of the new facility. That day, the visitors taking the tour would have seen that the first floor housed administrative offices, admissions, the business office, a small cafeteria, a gift shop and a tiny lobby. Also on the first floor was the 24-hour emergency room, along with operating suites, pathology labs, physical therapy rooms and the radiology department. The second floor held the critical care unit, medicalsurgical patient units and patient lounges. On the third floor were more patient beds and lounges, though these beds were among those not quite ready by opening day. The third floor was not to open until early spring, but Buckley assured the citizens the hospital would offer all its normal services with a limited number of available beds. Kathie Edmonds, a nurse in the emergency room, was at the hospital when a tour was walking through the new ER. Suddenly, a man attending the ceremony, stumbled against the door, his hand clutching his chest. He fell to the floor. Edmonds first reaction was to ask, “Is this a joke?” It wasn’t. Seconds later, she broadcast a message across the hospital. “We had to find a doctor in the hospital,” she said in an interview. “ ‘Any doctor to the ER. Stat!’ ” Crosby, one of the original members of the medical society, ran into the ER. The man was stabilized and rushed by ambulance into Norfolk. The following morning, Chesapeake General Hospital opened its doors. This time for real. Only 72 of the 141 beds were ready for patient use when the hospital opened. The remainder were to be phased in by the spring. On Monday, January 26, there were 27 admissions. On Wednesday, doctors treated 56 patients in the ER. All but one bed in the critical care unit was used. All available beds on the floor were filled. In a meeting with the hospital authority, Buckley reported that an additional 17 beds would be opened February 12, and that a dozen of those would be dedicated to surgical cases. In the first three and one-half days of operation, the hospital had 105 patients in radiology and 168 procedures performed in the X-ray department. In the first week, 85 percent of the beds were filled. Two weeks after the hospital opened, Buckley told the authority he had passed the decision regarding the color of uniforms over to the auxiliary. The 55