From Danville Regional Health System
Better Health Magazine Archives

Area physicians were the guests of honor at the recent groundbreaking of the new Danville Regional heart Center. The event was held on Wednesday, February 6th, at 7:30 a.m. to allow doctors to attend without disturbing their morning rounds.

The groundbreaking was in actuality an "asphalt breaking,"since the new center will be consturcted on the site of the former physicians parking lot. Those who took turns with the jackhammer included Warren Callaway, President and Chief Executive Officer of DRHS; Harry Phillips, M.D., Duke University Health System; Boshra Zakhary, M.D.' Gary Miller, M.D.; and Danville Mayor John Hamlin. Callaway offered some brief remarks, acknowledging that while a medical center can never rest on its accomplishments, Danville Regional can take enormous pride in its many advances in facilities and technology.

The approximately 10,000-squarefoot Danville Regional Heart Cneter will be affiliated with Duke University Health System. The new cardiovascular surgeon will be credentialed at Duke University Medical Center, will have an appointment to the Duke faculty, but will live in Danville and take an active part on the Danville Regional medical staff.

Construction is expected to take about one year, with the first open-heart surgery procedures likely to be performed in March, 2003. "We still have much work to do," said Lee Higgenbotham, Director, Cardiovascular Service Line at Danville Regional Medical Center. "But it was very exciting to see consturction equipment on the site, and to know that soon we will see our plans become reality. It was definitely a moving experience - and that was even before the jackhammers started."