At the Intersection of Healthcare and Innovation

Waitzer Hall, the newest addition to the EVMS campus, will expand capacity and consolidate existing spaces for teaching, study, student support and administrative workplace. The building is intended to house the primary classroom spaces for first- and second-year MD and Medical Master's students, as well as additional space for the growing number of programs in the EVMS School of Health Professions. The classrooms are designed to work with a new instructional standard of team-based learning (TBL). In lieu of a traditional lecture format, TBL is an active-learning format that emphasizes collaborative student work in small groups of six to eight to solve problems. In addition, students will have access to a variety of group and individual study spaces adjacent to these classrooms.

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Pictured from left to right: Jon, Melanie, Brad, Terri, Kathy (Scott-Waitzer), Eddie, Richard and Leah Waitzer

Thank you, Waitzers

Changing the landscape of our campus and our region’s health Eastern Virginia Medical School is pleased to announce the naming of its newest building slated to open in fall 2020; pleased to announce another family determined to deliver on the promise of a healthier Hampton Roads for the next 50 years.

The Waitzers’ most recent gift will change the landscape of our campus and our region’s health. Waitzer Hall is more than a building. It is a commitment to recruiting the best faculty and students, to conducting innovative research, to delivering outstanding patient care to those who call Hampton Roads home.

The Leah & Richard Waitzer Foundation

Leadership has been the cornerstone of the Waitzers’ lifelong commitment to their community. Married for over 60 years and graduates of the Norfolk Public Schools, they have given their time, talent and treasure to making Hampton Roads a better place.

Images courtesy of EYP/RRMM

Waitzer Hall
Opening Fall 2020

Two-section building:
Three-story podium and 11-story tower

138,000 gross square feet
89,000 net square feet
310 parking spaces

Podium

Three 170-seat classrooms
Two 60-seat classrooms
One 170-seat testing center
Formal and informal student study spaces with more than 200 seats
Wellness center

Tower

Top three floors for education, faculty and academic administration space
Seven floors for parking
Ground floor for academic and support space

EVMS Through the Years

EVMS was conceived of as a critical part of the Eastern Virginia Medical Center in the early 1960s as the City of Norfolk was undertaking an urban revitalization.

Congressman Porter Hardy, attorney Harry Mansbach, physician Mason Andrews and businessman Henry Clay Hofheimer were key volunteers who helped lead the effort to raise the funds necessary to establish EVMS. This photo celebrates an early philanthropy achievement.

The early physician graduates of the new medical school included corpsmen who had gained experience during the Vietnam war.

EVMS gained worldwide attention in December 1981 with the birth of “test tube” baby Elizabeth Carr. She was the first child born in the United States through the then-new art of in vitro fertilization.

In the 1980s, business and community leaders came together in response to high rates of diabetes in Southeastern Virginia. The result of their effort was the EVMS Strelitz Diabetes Center, which has provided patient care, patient education and cutting edge research for three decades.

EVMS’ ties to the community run deep. One example is the Medical and Health Specialties Program at Maury High School, a collaboration with EVMS that has encouraged generations of youth to explore their interests in medical and health careers.

A generation ago, the people in Hampton Roads were extremely generous when they established this medical school in response to a physician shortage. With another physician shortage looming, we are relying on the community’s generosity once again. Our new building will provide much-needed space for the growing number of physicians and health professionals that we train. Every gift made to EVMS is an investment in the future of healthcare in Hampton Roads. Thank you for supporting EVMS. For more information about how your gift can impact EVMS, please contact EVMS Development at giving@evms.edu or 757.965.8500.

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