Title: MedStar Georgetown University Hospital Opens Verstandig Pavilion on Hilltop Campus

MedStar Georgetown University Hospital has opened a new 477,000-square-foot medical and surgical pavilion on Georgetown’s campus that will focus on research, clinical care and medical education. 

The Verstandig Pavilion, located next to Georgetown University Medical Center, provides a high-tech learning environment for nursing and medical students and six acres of park-like green space for community members. 

The pavilion features a new emergency department; state-of-the-art operating rooms that offer specialized surgical visualization and robotic equipment; private patient rooms; and a rooftop helipad with direct access to the emergency and operating rooms.

The construction of the Verstandig Pavilion began in 2017 and is part of a long-term extension of Georgetown’s original agreement with MedStar Health in 2000 when the university sold the hospital. The renewed agreement established a pathway for creating an academic health system partnership, the largest in the mid-Atlantic region.

On Nov. 30, community members joined leaders from MedStar Health, the university’s academic health system partner, and DC Councilmember Brooke Pinto, at the Verstandig Pavilion’s ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the opening. The event was hosted by managing editor and CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell (C’95). A little over a week later, the pavilion began receiving patients. 

“The Verstandig Pavilion is a manifestation of the outstanding work that has long been underway here at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, and it represents the opportunities ahead in care and treatment,” said Georgetown President John J. DeGioia. “In this new space, we also acknowledge the importance of the community — the many physicians, researchers, nurses, caregivers and students whose combined efforts support and shape education, research and health care.”

Medical Education

The Verstandig Pavilion will offer students on-the-ground training to practice clinical care and conduct research in a hospital. 

They will have access to cutting-edge medical technology and systems, like a new Intraoperative MRI System (IMRI) technology that provides real-time imaging for neurosurgeons while operating.

“In addition to providing exceptional clinical care, the opening of this world-class facility provides  diverse research opportunities for our faculty, and multifaceted learning spaces for our medical, health and nursing students,” says Dr. Edward B. Healton, executive vice president for health sciences at Georgetown University Medical Center. “As learners working side-by-side with Georgetown faculty, they’ll also have even more opportunities to experience the nuanced ways we practice one of our core Jesuit values — cura personalis, or care for the whole person.”

New Green Space on Campus

In addition to a learning environment, the pavilion offers a new green environment on campus. 

The pedestrian-friendly green space, which extends from Reservoir Road to the Leavey Center, will eventually reach the new Henle Village currently under construction and provide walkways, benches, bike racks and a gathering area for community members. 

The space also extends to Reservoir Road and over the front of St. Mary’s Hall, an area to be called the Rachel L. “Bunny” Mellon Park, named in honor of the Gerard B. Lambert Foundation’s gift to Georgetown and MedStar Health.

The pavilion itself is named for entrepreneur, venture capital investor and philanthropist Grant Verstandig, and the Verstandig Family Foundation, who made a $50 million gift to support construction of the Pavilion – one of the largest philanthropic gifts ever made to health care in the Washington, D.C., region.