Virginia Health Commissioner Approves StoneSpring Medical Center

164-bed facility planned for Route 50 in Loudoun County

Reston, VA, September 18, 2009 – HCA Virginia today received approval from the Virginia Health Commissioner to move its hospital Certificate of Public Need (COPN) from Broadlands to Route 50 in Loudoun County. The approval is an important step forward in HCA Virginia’s plans to build Loudoun’s second hospital – StoneSpring Medical Center

“We are extremely pleased with the commissioner’s ruling,” said Margaret Lewis, President of HCA’s Capital Division and Senior Executive of HCA Virginia. “It’s good news for all of Loudoun County and Northern Virginia, underscoring the benefits that choice and competition can bring to the region’s healthcare marketplace.”

HCA Virginia has applied to Loudoun County for zoning approval for StoneSpring Medical Center. A vote on that special exception request is expected to occur by mid-2010. Barring unforeseen delays, StoneSpring could open its doors at the end of 2015.

StoneSpring Medical Center is slated to occupy part of a 50-acre medical campus at the intersection of Gum Spring Road and Route 50. HCA Virginia purchased the property in late 2006. The COPN approval calls for a hospital with four floors, 337,000 square feet of space and 164 beds, comprehensive diagnostic services, a cardiac catheterization lab, and seven operating rooms. HCA Virginia has also announced a pending partnership with Children’s National Medical Center to provide pediatric services at StoneSpring. The facility has an estimated price tag of $195 million.
 
StoneSpring is a replacement for Broadlands Regional Medical Center, which received Certificate of Public Need approval in 2004 but was never built in light of orchestrated opposition from Inova Health System. While pledging not to oppose Stonespring through legal, political or public means, Inova has since raised significant objections to the COPN change request.
 
In addition to bringing hospital beds and services to one of Virginia’s most underserved counties, StoneSpring will also be a strong economic catalyst for Loudoun, creating hundreds of jobs during construction and 500 permanent new healthcare jobs after it opens. The hospital will generate an annual payroll of $50 million as well as an estimated $3 million in local tax revenues to fund important community services.

As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive patient care network, HCA Virginia operates 13 hospitals in Central, Southwestern and Northern Virginia, as well as dozens of outpatient centers and physician practices. In addition to being one of Virginia’s largest employers, it provides approximately $100 million in charity care to uninsured patients each year and pays $100 million in taxes. Nationally, HCA owns and operates more than 160 hospitals and 107 freestanding surgery centers in 20 states and London, England.
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HCA Virginia Contact:
Mark Foust
804.327.7604 (office)