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VA Hospital Expands Intensive Care Unit

The Harry S. Truman Veterans’ Hospital has expanded its intensive care unit to provide more beds and space for its patients. Ambassadors from the Columbia Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon cutting Thursday afternoon in honor of the new expansion. The expansion is just one part of a 10 year, $9 million plan to renovate and expand the hospital.

“We’ve consistently increased the number of veterans were taking care of somewhere around 2 to 3 percent each year. The fiscal year that just ended we were taking care of 39,000 veterans,” Public Affairs Officer Stephen Gaither said.

Chief of Volunteer Service Sylvia Jackson said the hospital recruits between 200 and 300 volunteers a year from the University of Missouri service learning program and residents of Columbia.

Gaither said the next phase of the project will be to move the hospital’s inpatient surgery unit downstairs, closer to the intensive care unit. He says the project will be finished in late November.

Lauren A. Brown is from the south suburbs of Chicago. She is currently an undergraduate in the Missouri School of Journalism studying broadcast journalism. She is a newscaster and reporter for KBIA. She loves doing feature stories because of the in depth interview process.