By Danielle Pierce 

2025 has been a year of tremendous progress and growth for VCU Health. Our team members delivered exceptional care to more patients than ever before, setting a record number of inpatient and outpatient cases. 

This growth reflects the strength of our team members and their unwavering dedication to our patients. It is intentional, grounded in our mission to preserve and restore health for all people in Virginia and beyond. At the same time, our growth underscores our commitment to expanding access to the high-quality care that only VCU Health can provide as the region’s premier university-based health system. 

As we reflect on 2025 and look ahead to 2026, we see this vision coming alive in many ways. One of the most exciting is our promise to meet our patients where they are and bring care and research closer to the communities where they live and work. 

“Community expansion is a vital part of our continuum of care,” said Marlon Levy, M.D., MBA, senior vice president for VCU Health Sciences and CEO of VCU Health System. “It’s what our patients and communities ask for and deserve – meeting them where they are, while continuing to invest in and strengthen our downtown campus.” 

From opening new clinics to breaking ground on major facilities, each initiative underscores our dedication to reducing barriers and improving health outcomes across Virginia. 

Expanding care in the community in 2025 

In 2025, VCU Health opened three clinical spaces, bringing Virginia’s top heart hospital closer to home for patients in Richmond’s West End while expanding and improving spaces in our downtown campus. We also broke ground on an ambulatory surgery center and medical office building in Chesterfield. 

Chesterfield Pavilion in Chesterfield County, Virginia

Construction for the Chesterfield Pavilion in Chesterfield County started in May and is scheduled to open for patients in 2027.  

• The 100,000 gross square-foot, four-story facility will house an ambulatory surgical center and medical office building.  
• By co-locating surgery, diagnostics and specialty care under one roof, those living in one of Virginia’s most populous counties will have better access to a wide variety of high-quality outpatient services. 
• At the Chesterfield Pavilion, patients will be able to meet with specialists in oncology, gynecology, urology, and plastic and reconstructive surgery, and will include amenities like mammography, infusion therapy, a pharmacy and more. 

A rendering of the new VCU Health facility in Chesterfield County. (Courtesy: PSH+)

Reynolds Crossing in Richmond, Virginia

Reynolds Crossing, a new Pauley Heart Center clinic, opened in September. The new clinic brings cardiovascular and pulmonary care closer to residents living in Richmond’s West End. 

• The clinic combines cardiology specialists with pulmonary medicine and offers a full cardiopulmonary rehabilitation gym, complete with a walking track and exercise equipment. For the first time, VCU Health’s cardiopulmonary rehabilitation services are available to patients outside of VCU Medical Center. 
• It houses diagnostic services such as pulmonary function testing; stress, CPET, and echocardiograms; and an on-site lab, making it easier for patients to receive coordinated care in one location. 
• The expansion also supports VCU Health’s heart and lung transplant programs, and makes VCU Health one of the few hospital systems in Virginia with dual-site cardiopulmonary rehab facilities.

Enhancing clinical spaces and care options for liver disease patients 

With liver diseases being one of the main causes of death worldwide, VCU Health made it a priority in 2025 to expand clinical spaces to dedicated to treating patients with liver-related conditions. The two new units, based out of the academic medical center campus, will also give patients more access to robotic surgical innovations in liver transplantation to new clinical trials. 

Comprehensive Liver Care Unit in Richmond, Virginia

In April, a new 39-bed Comprehensive Liver Care Unit opened on the seventh floor of Main Hospital at VCU Medical Center. 

• The unit is designed to provide both intensive and intermediate private room care for pre- and post-operative liver transplant patients, served by the Hume-Lee Transplant Center. 
• It features a rehabilitative physical-therapy room, dedicated family spaces, an outdoor garden and office space for medical staff. 
• The unit’s care team comprises hepatologists and transplant surgeons affiliated with VCU’s Stravitz-Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease and Metabolic Health.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Comprehensive Liver Care Unit was held in March 2025. From left to right: Sherri Newman, MSHA, vice president of administration at Hume-Lee Transplant Center; Eddie Buhse, MSN, director, Cardiovascular and Transplant Nursing at VCU Health; Brett Neville, assistant vice president of Patient Care Services; David Bruno, M.D., director of Hume-Lee Transplant Center; Arun Sanyal, M.D., director of the VCU Stravitz-Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease and Metabolic Health; Marlon Levy, M.D., MBA, senior vice president for VCU Health Sciences and chief executive officer of VCU Health System; Jim Willis, interim president of VCU Medical Center; and Shirley Gibson, DNP, vice president of real estate at VCU Health System. (Tom Kojcsich, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

The Liver and Metabolic Health Outpatient Clinic in Richmond, Virginia

A 13,000-square-foot multidisciplinary outpatient clinic dedicated to liver and metabolic health opened on the ninth floor of the Adult Outpatient Pavilion in October.  

• The facility is designed as a “one-stop” place for liver care, without needing to bounce between multiple departments. 
• It brings together hepatologists as well as specialists in cardiology, endocrinology, nutrition, exercise physiology and psychiatry, giving liver patients coordinated care all under one roof. 
• The clinic also supports cutting-edge research by VCU’s Stravitz-Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease and Metabolic Health, with some patients eligible to take part in clinical trials. 
• The space is structured to reduce the fragmentation of liver disease. It includes exam rooms, procedure rooms, an exercise area with a walking track, infusion bays, treatment suites and specialty research clinic. 

Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond 

As we look ahead to the new year, our mission to bring high-quality care closer to home has never been clearer. While we are still in the early planning stage for some of these initiatives, here are a few ways we aim to meet this need:  

Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU in Richmond, Virginia

Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU’s Children’s Tower opened on April 30, 2023, bringing pediatric inpatient, emergency and trauma care into a completely kid-focused building. While impressive on opening day, the 16-story tower was also built with an eye toward the future, allowing it to be ever evolving and ensuring spaces meet our families’ needs and exceed their expectations. Two clinical expansions are planned for 2026. 

• Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU): CHoR will be able to care for more babies than ever come January when a 20-bed neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) opens in the Children’s Tower. CHoR is a Level 4 NICU, serving as a regional referral center and offering the highest level of care available for premature and full-term infants with critical medical needs.  
   
• Additional acute care beds: Construction started last month for 24 additional acute care beds on Level 11 of the Children’s Tower. The unit will mirror other floors, with spacious private rooms and family-friendly amenities that make the hospital feel more like home. With an anticipated opening in late 2026, the unit will bring CHoR’s total number of pediatric acute care beds to 72.

VCU Health Pauley Center Outpatient Pavilion in Richmond, Virginia 

With an anticipated groundbreaking in spring 2026, this will be a state-of-the-art medical facility that will increase access to the top heart center in Virginia and set a national standard for outpatient cardiovascular care. The VCU Health Pauley Heart Center Outpatient Pavilion — Pauley Pavilion for short — will expand the hospital system’s clinical, procedural and research spaces for cardiovascular medicine. 

Chesterfield Hospital in Chesterfield County, Virginia

In addition to breaking ground on the Chesterfield Pavilion, VCU Health received the Virginia Department of Health’s DCOPN Staff Report’s recommendation of conditional approval for a 66-bed hospital in November. While we are still early in this process and it is pending final approval, we are excited about the possibility of expanding access to our unwavering care in Chesterfield County. 

Downtown Inpatient Tower in Richmond, Virginia

VCU Health submitted a Request for Proposal for a project management firm in June 2025, which is a key step in our planning process for the downtown inpatient tower. We are still very early in the planning, but this project reinforces our dedication to strengthening and investing in our downtown Richmond campus. 

Jordana Kron, M.D. (right), shows Darlene Anita Scott (left), a VCU Health Pauley Heart Center patient, a device to monitor her heart’s rhythm. (Kevin Morley, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

While each of these initiatives individually represents one new building or clinical space, together they form an investment in our mission to deliver exceptional care where our patients live and work throughout the commonwealth.  

Each new space is an access point, designed to remove barriers and bring world-class health care closer to the communities we serve and advancing a vision of patient-centered care that meets people where they are. 

“We want to be able to say ‘yes’ to anyone who needs us,” Levy added. “All of these initiatives represent our unwavering commitment to making world-class care accessible to every community we serve. By meeting people where they are, we’re building a healthier future for the entire commonwealth.” 

Celebrating hope, healing and community: Happy holidays from VCU Health

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