Living in LoCo
HCA to Continue Legal Challenge
LoudounExtra.com staff at 8:03 p.m., January 11, 2008 (11 comments)
From Living in LoCo correspondent Erica Garman:
Mark Foust, spokesperson for HCA's Capital Division, confirmed today that HCA will be moving ahead with litigation to challenge the previous Board of Supervisors' 2005 denial to build the Broadlands Regional Medical Center.
A pre-trial hearing will take place Feb. 14, and the trial will begin March 10.
HCA wants to build a full-service, 164-bed hospital on the site it owns next to the Dulles Greenway, alongside Belmont Ridge Road, and adjacent to the Broadlands community in Ashburn. HCA holds a certificate of public need as issued by the state health commissioner.
“We're simply trying to accomplish something that a majority of Loudoun County residents want, and that's a hospital in Ashburn,” said Foust, who referenced studies that approximately half of all LoCo residents leave the county for medical care.
Inova Loudoun Hospital, the only hospital in Loudoun County, is about five miles from HCA's proposed site.
That's too close, according to Donna Fortier, a spokesperson for Inova Loudoun Hospital. “A hospital in Broadlands will destroy any chance for the southern and western parts of the county to receive equal access to healthcare.”
In 2005, many members of the Broadlands community cried “NIMBY” to HCA and protested that a hospital would bring traffic, crime and decreased property values. The Board of Supervisors at that time denied HCA's application based on these concerns.
If you want to wade through the 970 or so local comments on the BRMC debate you can check them out on the Broadlands forums. The hospital thread was started in June 2002 when HCA announced its LoCo plans, and comments have been posted on the topic through today. In a nutshell, however, this is how those who chimed in on the thread felt about BRMC:
A. Some feel that it's the right time for a new hospital to be built and welcome the competing facility, but they don't think Broadlands is the best location for it -- other parts of Loudoun are more deserving.
B. Other residents want BRMC in the Ashburn community, citing that it will bring high-paying jobs and help boost area home sales.
C. Some are against a new hospital anywhere in LoCo.
Naturally, most residents welcome the tax revenue that a private company such as HCA would bring to Loudoun.
How do you feel about a new hospital in Ashburn?
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BUILD IT! The only reason we don't have the Broadland's Regional Medical Center, now, is because of corporate paranoia that is motivating Inova; and their wish to keep a strangle hold on health care competition. Their deceitful campaign to produce fear mongering is absurd. Get a grip folks HCA is a fortune 100 business that wants to become part of Loudoun County! Don't be a pawn to the greed and welcome this new business partner to our County. By the way the article is incorrect, HCA is a public company not a private company. The author probably meant non-profit. That means HCA will pay county TAXES, unlike Inova.
Posted by maravetz (anonymous) on January 11, 2008 at 10:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
There may be a need for the hospital, but the location, adjacent to a quiet subdivision seems strange. For those that were here a mere 4 years ago, the Leesburg Hospital shut down, due to a lack of business. This new hospital is supposed to provide care for the Western portion of LoCo, but those living Leesburg and west would have a more direct shot to the Landsdowne Hospital, which is planning on expanding.
HCA is unwilling to admit that this site is a "C" and continues to fight it out in the courts instead of seeking out a better "A" location for the hospital.
Posted by pga_mike (anonymous) on January 12, 2008 at 2:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
But none the less lbuividas, HCA pays 100% more taxes than Inova. We need to start welcoming business that want to pay taxes and provide a competitive environment. I'd rather have HCA paying 100% of taxes compared to Inova, than having Inova have 100% of Loudoun healthcare. This is a no brainer.
pga_mike, where is there anywhere in Loudoun that isn't near a quiet sub-division. This site is surrounded by multiple lanes of roads on three sides and the school office building on the other. It is not in the sub-division.
Posted by maravetz (anonymous) on January 12, 2008 at 9:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
There's nothing wrong with wanting to bring in a company to Loudoun that will pay taxes. But, it shouldn't come at the expense of existing businesses in Loudoun. As a Rt. 50 resident, the next hospital is desperatly needed down here -- not in Broadlands, a mere 4 miles from Inova Loudoun. Healthcare isn't fast food -- when two compete so close to each other, its the residents that get screwed b/c the quality of care is destroyed. If HCA goes to Broadlands b/c of their stubborness, not only will they be ignoring a large part of the county who needs care, but they will destroy any chance the existing health care infrastructure in the county. Wouldn't you say that HCA can contribute the same to the county along Rt. 50 -- the RIGHT location!
Posted by rez51 (anonymous) on January 13, 2008 at 11:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)
the location is simply wrong- imho. i'm not into the minutia of why it's right or wrong to build it, depending on whose spin you believe- i don't know WHAT those issues are. but since it would be a mile from my house, and i know how long it takes to get to this part of town at certain times of the day, just seems to me that there are places that make MORE sense to build than right off of a greedway exit which,at rush hour, backs up to ridiculous levels. ESPECIALLY when those of us living here have such quick access to Inova. put the hospital where there is a NEED, not where anyone that can easily get to IT, can get to Inova in just a few minutes more...
Posted by tttrenee (anonymous) on January 13, 2008 at 7:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
rez51,
HCA is a for profit company. Don't you think they have evaluated the market needs and decided confidently where a good thriving hospital needs to be situated? It's Broadlands! Richmond agrees and provided a certificate of need for this location to HCA. Both HCA and Inova are on the record saying Route 50 does not have the population to support a full blow hospital.
Inova Loudoun is serving the route 7 corridor; BRMC will serve the Greenway corridor; and when the population supports it another hospital will support the Rt 50 cooridor.
BTW, tttrenee, the BRMC will be about a mile from my house, as well as you.
Posted by maravetz (anonymous) on January 13, 2008 at 9:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Had it not been for the NIMBY factor, BRMC would have been coming online now.
-The distance between it and INOVA Loudoun is irrelevant given the population distribution/density of the county around Broadlands.
-It does not prevent any other facility being built south, west or elsewhere - particularly when Inova, HCA, and even HealthSouth are looking at locating hospitals or and/or other facilities in the Route 50 corridor.
-Inova needs competition to improve the level of service and loosen its stranglehold on the metropolitan healthcare market.
-This is exactly the type of tax-paying business the county needs as a partner to provide tangible life-impacting benefits to the residents, and lessen the tax burdens on the homeowners.
Posted by timbutka9 (anonymous) on January 14, 2008 at 1:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Timbutka9, I would say to that -- HCA can still provide relief along Rt. 50. The distance between Inova and BRMC is not irrelevant - it's completely relevant. Read the Health System Agency's report on Loudoun County (on the county site) -- or just google what happens when two hospitals are so close together. HealthSouth is a Rehab hospital, NOT a normal hospital like BRMC or Inova.
Posted by rez51 (anonymous) on January 15, 2008 at 7:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
rez51,
There is very sound logic in locating BRMC at the Broadlands site. There are three major east west corridors in Loudoun and each should have a hospital on it. It's a very efficient way to provide a choice in health care for those in western Loudoun, as well as those of us in the east. Route 7 corridor is currently served by Inova; the Greenway corridor will be served by BRMC; and eventually when population triggers are met someone will provide a hospital on Rt. 50. Where else in Loudoun can we place a hospital along a major highway? It's extremely logical. The tired argument that BRMC and Inova are to close together is nothing more than Inova corporate greed trying to keep a waining strangle hold on our choices for healthcare in Loudoun.
Posted by maravetz (anonymous) on January 15, 2008 at 10:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
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