Ginny Fox married Stephen Taylor Beveridge who established and headed the wholesale grain firm, S.T. Beveridge and Company until his death in 1939. The couple lived in a prominent home on Richmond’s Monument Ave but never had children.
Ginny Fox Beveridge, blind in her later years, traveled extensively in search of a cure, eventually having an operation that partially restored her sight. Grateful, she resolved to build a hospital in Richmond where others – even those unable to pay – could have their eyes cared for near home. When she died in 1945, she left funds to build Richmond Eye Hospital, which opened on May 19, 1952.
Located in downtown Richmond, Richmond Eye Hospital served the Central Virginia community as Mrs. Beveridge envisioned it, while also becoming a national leader in specialty surgical care. The hospital flourished and became Richmond Eye and Ear Hospital in 1983 after opening a Marshall Street location. As advancements in medical technology and surgical techniques reduced patient surgery and recovery time, the hospital’s leaders recognized that to fulfill its founding mission, it was time to evolve.
In 2002, the downtown location was sold to VCU Medical Center and the proceeds used to build Central Virginia’s largest Ambulatory (same-day) Surgery Center in the Stony Point area and to fund a foundation for community benefit Since then, more than 200,000 surgeries have been performed at Stony Point and at the second surgery center location opened in 2017 in Short Pump’s West Creek area. In 2012, to support the organization’s evolution, it adopted the name MEDARVA – a shortened version of Medical Arts in Virginia. In 2020 an Imaging Center was added. As of March 2023, the organization has rebranded to MEDRVA (pronounced MED-RVA), which symbolizes not only our current role in the community, but our plans to further evolve and continue providing Central Virginians with exceptional, local healthcare. Today, MEDRVA Healthcare includes MEDRVA Surgery Centers at Stony Point and West Creek, MEDRVA Imaging Center, and the MEDRVA Foundation, which includes such programs as the MEDRVA Low Vision Center.