St. Vincent’s celebrates heart pavilion topping out

St. Vincent’s celebrates heart pavilion topping out
The Delores Barr Weaver Heart and Vascular Pavilion (Photo by Aaron Mervin)

Just 13 months after St. Vincent’s HealthCare broke ground on the site for what will become the Delores Barr Weaver Heart and Vascular Pavilion, a topping out ceremony was held June 17 in front of the construction site on St. Vincent’s Riverside campus. Attending the event were many donors, including Delores Barr Weaver, who provided the lead gift for the $55 million, four-story pavilion in March.

After its May 3, 2018 groundbreaking, the Haskell Company construction crew has made steady progress, offering confidence the doors will open late 2019 or early 2020. The site has been accident-free, stated one member of the crew, who said “the project has been in God’s hands.”

The facility will include 30 medical and surgical rooms and 30 intensive care rooms but will primarily be used for heart and vascular needs, including two nursing units devoted to caring for patients who undergo open-heart surgeries and other cardiovascular procedures.

As he noted at the groundbreaking last year, Ascension St. Vincent’s HealthCare President and CEO Tom VanOsdol said, “This is yet another red-letter day for Ascension St. Vincent’s as we celebrate the topping out of the heart and vascular pavilion here on the Riverside campus. 

Robert T. Shircliff with Delores Barr Weaver and J. Wayne Weaver (Photo by Aaron Mervin)
Robert T. Shircliff with Delores Barr Weaver and J. Wayne Weaver (Photo by Aaron Mervin)

“This has been a long time coming…but it’s almost here and it’s going to be a reality for all of us throughout Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia,” continued VanOsdol. “This project represents the opportunity and the need for St. Vincent’s to get the quality of our facilities and our physical plant, infrastructure and amenities to match the superior differentiated quality of our physicians and our caregivers, the clinical excellence and the compassionate care that happens here every single day.”

Jane Lanier, CFRE, St. Vincent’s Foundation president and chief development officer, paid tribute to longtime donor and supporter Robert Shircliff, who attended the ceremony. 

“Bob has raised more money for St. Vincent’s than anybody in the history of St. Vincent’s. So many of the things you see around you are here because of Bob,” Lanier said, then introduced Delores Barr Weaver, who noted it was in 2003 when she and her husband, Wayne, first supported the cardiovascular wing at St. Vincent’s. “We’re fortunate to have such a program right here in Riverside. The new pavilion will enable our caregivers to provide our community with the best possible care,” said Weaver.

In addition to Weaver’s gift, the list of major donors, after whom areas of the pavilion will be named, reads like a Who’s Who in philanthropy, including names like Jill and Charlie Arnold, the Boccieri Family, Lila Byrd Brown, the Cascone Family Foundation, Gary and Nancy Chartrand, Jack and Betty Demetree, Mr. and Mrs. Kevin English, Dick and Diane Erickson, Mr. and Mrs. John Falconetti, Mr. and Mrs. Rob Frazier, Harry Frisch, John and Flavel Godfrey, Dr. Richard and Jean Grimsley, Lindsay Helms, Rick and Patty Jones, Kathleen and Patrick Kilbane, Gasper and Irene Lazzara, Mr. and Mrs. Chris Leeper, Thomas Lobrano, Mac and Terri McGehee, Mary Carr Patton, Dr. Estrellita Redmon and Gregory Redmon, Esq., Robert and Carol Shircliff, Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Simmons, The Haskell Company, Tom and Kathy VanOsdol and Mr. and Mrs. Lou Walsh. 

By Kate A. Hallock
Resident Community News

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