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New hospital proposed for North Suffolk

By Ashley McKnight-Taylor
Thursday, May 31, 2007 9:11 PM CDT

Staff Writer

North Suffolk could see its own hospital if all goes according to plan.

Bon Secours Hampton Roads Health System announced yesterday plans to seek approval from the Virginia Department of Health to build a new acute care community hospital. Officials will submit a letter of intent today notifying the agency of its intent to file a Certificate of Public Need application next month, said Lynn Zultanky, spokesperson for Bon Secours.

Hospital construction must be approved by the state under the COPN law.

A freestanding, 15-bed emergency department opened on the Bon Secours Harbour View campus in March. But with North Suffolk's growing population, and increased demand on the current facility, the area will need a small, inpatient unit, said Daniel S. Duggan, executive vice president/administrator for Bon Secours DePaul Medical Center.
The new facility would be a 50-80 bed hospital with operating rooms, radiation therapy services, cardiac services and more. Bon Secours officials are calling the plan a "new model of health care" that will better meet the changing needs of the community with more personal service, outpatient care and new technology to speed recovery, service and access to information.

"The emerging vision in health care is small, state-of-the-art facilities," Duggan said. The community hospital would mesh with the "town center" style of developments going up in that part of the city, he added.

Harbour View Station Towne Center is a mixed-use development with a blend of homes, retail and office space on 126 acres off Harbour View Boulevard and Town Point Road that essentially will create a new downtown-like area in North Suffolk.

The state deadline for COPN filings is July 1. A decision on approving Bon Secours' request is expected in December 2007.

Plans also include building a new facility at Bon Secours DePaul Medical Center located on Kingsley Lane in Norfolk, as well as establishing another acute care community hospital at the outpatient campus Bon Secours Health Center at Virginia Beach, according to a press release.

The three facilities will be prioritized based on community need, Duggan said. The DePaul facility likely would be completed first, because that building is older and more rundown.

"There's a clear need for more choice in hospital providers in the growing regions of Virginia Beach and Suffolk," said Richard A. Hanson, CEO of Bon Secours Hampton Roads, in a press release.

Bon Secours already offers many services at Harbour View, including a woman's imaging center, a comprehensive woman's diagnostic center, outpatient surgery and MRI services, gastroenterology and pulmonary rehabilitation centers. The medical center also has six outpatient operating rooms.

ashley.taylor@suffolknewsherald.com

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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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