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Bon Secours wants to shift Norfolk hospital beds to Beach, Suffolk

By NANCY YOUNG, The Virginian-Pilot
© May 31, 2007
Last updated: 6:13 PM

Setting the stage for a battle with the region's largest health care provider, Bon Secours Hampton Roads Health System announced today it will apply to the state to build new hospitals in Suffolk and Virginia Beach. Bon Secours also said it will seek approval to downsize DePaul Medical Center in Norfolk, replacing it with a new structure.

Bon Secours' plan is to transfer the bulk of DePaul's beds to a new 50-to-80-bed hospital at its Harbour View outpatient health center in northern Suffolk and an 80-to-100-bed hospital at its Princess Anne center in southern Virginia Beach.

"We're not asking for new beds," said Daniel Duggan, executive vice president/administrator for Bon Secours' DePaul and Princess Anne facilities. "We're asking the state to allow us to redistribute those beds to where the patients are."

DePaul now has 214 beds, but typically uses only about half, and some of those patients travel from other cities, Duggan said. The plan would be for DePaul to become a 30-to-60-bed hospital, with the overall vision being to create "smaller, more compact facilities that provide a range of services" in a "health care town center" model.

In Suffolk, if approved, a Bon Secours hospital would compete with Sentara Obici Hospital. On Wednesday, that hospital's parent organization, Norfolk-based Sentara Healthcare, announced it plans to seek state approval to add inpatient beds at Obici.

Sentara, the region's largest health provider, also on Wednesday filed a letter of intent with the state to build a new hospital at its Princess Anne outpatient center, which is within a few miles of the Bon Secours health center in that part of the city.

Large health care projects have to be approved by the state before they can be built. Bon Secours officials said they expect a regulatory decision on the building requests in December.

Bon Secours officials said Maryview Medical Center in Portsmouth would become the health system's central hospital for South Hampton Roads under the reorganization plan.

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Bon Secours Hampton Roads Health System is a leading health care organization known for providing care for the whole person with grace and clinical distinction. Bon Secours brings together a network of hospitals, primary care practices, ambulatory care sites and continuing care facilities to provide quality health care services to the residents of Hampton Roads. Bon Secours, which employs more than 4,500, includes: Bon Secours DePaul Medical Center, Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center, Mary Immaculate Hospital, Bon Secours Health Center at Harbour View, Bon Secours Maryview Nursing Care Center and St. Francis Nursing Center.

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