RENOWN NEWS RELEASE
Virginia White is the mother of two, has five grandchildren and recently enjoyed watching her San Francisco Giants sweep the Detroit Tigers 4-0 in the 2012 World Series. But of all the numbers accumulating in her life she finds the number 598 the most significant. That’s the total number of times she has received an infusion at Renown Regional Medical Center.
White moved to Reno from San Francisco in March of 2000, and with the change in altitude, she began to have difficulties breathing. She had a few bouts with pneumonia in the Bay Area, and after a pulmonologist recommended a blood test, she was diagnosed with a rare genetic respiratory illness. Her condition required weekly treatments at Renown’s Infusion Center.
“My first infusion was back in May of 2001,” White said. “I’m nearing 12 years of weekly treatments. That’s a lot, but they are necessary to keep me going.”
After sitting in one of the same chairs for nearly a dozen years, White is excited for a change. Today she was to be introduced for the first time to a newly renovated space designed to focus on patient-centered care in a calm and healing environment.
“The people who work there really make the experience,” she said. “I really love the personalities everyone has and all the pictures they have of their families, horses, etc. The nurses are so helpful and really put me at ease each week. I love the nurse navigation program.”
Made possible by generous gifts from donors, the new space will include 25 private patient spaces with personal entertainment systems and controlled lighting. It will also feature an in-suite pharmacy and lab services to get patient treatments started quickly reducing appointment times by nearly 60 minutes in some cases.
With shorter appointment times, White is looking forward to spending more time with friends visiting Nevada’s Museum of Art and watching number 8, Colin Kaepernick, lead her Niners into the playoffs.
