Under One Roof New Children’s Medical Center planned

Photo by Stephanie Gross

Dr. Sydney Rice (left), medical director of the Kluge Children’s Rehabilitation Center, reads to patient Roberta Dove at the KCRC.

As part of its Health System master plan, the University will build a $47 million Children’s Medical Center atthe corner of West Main Street and Jefferson Park Avenue, where the Blake Center
is currently located. R. Edward Howell, vicepresident and chief executive officer of the Medical Center, and University Architect David J. Neuman unveiled the plan at a community briefing June 15.

The new building will consolidate the center’s outpatient and rehabilitation services under one roof. Inpatient services will
continue to be provided on the seventh floor of the University Hospital, which will be connected to the center by a covered walkway.

While the construction start date is dependent on fundraising efforts now under way, groundbreaking for the 160,000-square-foot facility
is expected to occur in four or five years. Full story.

Kaplan discusses gay issues

A faculty member’s partner — who has chronic health problems — has no health benefits and cannot adopt their daughter, because two-parent adoption for anyone other than legally married couples is illegal in Virginia.

“The economic and emotional stress is immeasurable. If one bad thing were to happen … that’s the fear that shrouds our lives,” said Claire Kaplan, U.Va.’s Sexual Assault Education Coordinator who happens to be the gay faculty member mentioned above. She has discovered that many in the University community “have no clue some of their colleagues don’t have the same benefits.” Full story.

Musical: Ticket to Heritage season success

How are you going to top this?

That’s the question everyone is asking Robert Chapel following the artistic and box-office success of the Heritage Repertory Theatre’s season opener “Ragtime.”

The show’s run played to sold-out audiences for seven of the 10 performances as well as for the Saturday matinee. When all the analyses are completed, “Ragtime” could be the Heritage’s biggest hit ever, said Chapel, artistic director for the theatre and chairman of U.Va.’s Drama Department. Full story.