Transcript: HCA Executive Answers Reader Questions on BRMC

By LoudounExtra.com staff

Originally published at 6:49 p.m., April 28, 2008
Updated at 1:20 p.m., May 1, 2008

Margaret Lewis, president of HCA's Capital Division, was online Thursday afternoon to answer questions from LoudounExtra.com readers about HCA's plans to build the proposed Broadlands Regional Medical Center.

The transcript of that chat is below.

HCA is planning to build the medical center near the Dulles Greenway at Belmont Ridge Road in Loudoun County. It would become the second such medical center in the county.

Proponents of BRMC say a new hospital is needed in the fast-growing county. Opponents say HCA has chosen the wrong location. The proposed BRMC site is less than five miles from Inova Loudoun Hospital, which is the only other medical center in the county.

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Margaret Lewis: I'm delighted to be here today and welcome the chance to answer your questions. HCA has been a part of the Virginia healthcare community for more than 35 years, and we've been here in Northern Virginia since 1986. We're committed to serving an even larger part of the region – that's why we located our Capital Division headquarters to Reston a couple of years ago and why I relocated my residence here. Broadlands Regional Medical Center has been in the news a lot, and I'm happy to talk about our plans for that facility and address other topics on your mind.

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Ashburn, Va.: Ms. Lewis, can you tell us a bit about your background with HCA? What is your history with the company and have you had experience working in other areas where for-profit companies and not-for-profit healthcare systems work side by side for the community?

Margaret Lewis: I'd be happy to. I'm currently President of HCA's Capital Division which has 10 hospitals. My division includes Reston Hospital and Dominion Hospital as well as Reston and Fairfax Surgery Centers in Northern Virginia. I've been in this role since 2004 and really love it. Healthcare is something I feel passionate about because there is a tremendous opportunity to have a positive influence with a great many people. And I enjoy interacting with the physicians, employees and board members and community leaders I meet at each of our hospitals. I'm always impressed at how committed and intelligent these people are and I leave knowing that the patients who go to our hospitals are in great hands.

By training I am a registered nurse and my education took place here in Virginia. I attended John Tyler Community College in Midlothian, then MCV in Richmond where I received a BS in nursing, and finally earned an MBA from Averett College.

I've worked at HCA my entire career in different capacities, including as CEO at CJW Medical Center, which is a large hospital with 2 campuses. My community work has included board appointments to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, LEAD Virginia, the John Tyler Community College Foundation, Richmond 2007, the state's Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Program, and the Old Dominion Emergency Medical Services Alliance Inc, plus others. These opportunities are very fulfilling to me personally and I see it as my obligation to lend my time and talents to such endeavors.

Margaret Lewis

In every market in the Capital Division we work side by side with not for profit hospitals for the benefit of the community. We look forward to doing this in Loudoun County as well.

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Ashburn, Va.: I've notice on HCA's fliers that you claim that you will bring new services to Loudoun County. However when you get down and see the specific services offered, they are the same as Inova Loudoun's. Why is HCA misleading us on that if that is the case why not truly complement the services and move to Route 50?

Margaret Lewis: BRMC will provide healthcare services that residents need and have been asking for. It is an issue of capacity. The fact that 50% of Loudoun residents leave the county for inpatient care shows just how important BRMC's services will be in terms of improving the quality of life for people who live and work here. In addition, BRMC will attract new physicians to the region, which will certainly be helpful to patients who currently are forced to wait too long for a doctor's appointment.

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Loudoun County, Va.: The Board just raised my property taxes, what economic benefit -- if any -- does a new hospital bring to Loudoun County?

Margaret Lewis: As a tax-paying organization, HCA helps to support important community services. We estimate that BRMC's tax payments will come to about $3.5 million, which will help the county meet its infrastructure needs and ensure that its services are maintained to the level residents expect.

It's also important to note that BRMC will create hundreds of jobs and serve as a stimulant for the local economy.

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Vienna, Va.: What is the current timetable for building the hospital in Broadlands? What services will it provide?

Margaret Lewis: Construction of a hospital generally takes 24 months once ground is broken.

BRMC will be a community hospital that provides a very wide range of services. It will have 164 beds in all, including 12 OB beds, 16 intensive care beds, and 40 child/adolescent psychiatric beds. There will be no adult psychiatric beds. It will have the typical and necessary imaging technology, including CT, MRI, and nuclear medicine, 7 operating rooms, a cardiac catheterization lab, and of course a full-service 24/7 Emergency Room. We put a lot of thought into the hospital to ensure that it will provide the kind and level of clinical services that meet community needs.

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Broadlands, Va.: Isn't this hospital being built too close to Loudoun Inova Hospital?

Margaret Lewis: BRMC's location in Ashburn will be ideal for the majority of Loudoun residents. In 2010, it's projected that 90% of county residents will be closer to BRMC than they would be to a hospital located on Route 50. In 2020, even with continued growth, 88% of county residents will still be closer to BRMC than a Route 50 location. BRMC will be more accessible to more people in Loudoun than a Route 50 hospital would be – and that's what matters.

In highly populated regions elsewhere in Virginia, it's very common for hospitals to be located fairly close to one another. There are many examples, including those in the a link provided, where hospitals are closer together than BRMC will be to Loudoun Hospital – and these hospitals are doing very well in meeting patient needs and in maintaining the volumes that help them operate efficiently.

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washingtonpost.com: Information on hospital distances

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Broadlands, Va.: Times are hard these days. What is HCA's charitable care policy for those who don't have insurance and can't afford the hospital care they need?

Margaret Lewis: Not only do we have a moral obligation to see any patient who would come to the Emergency Room, it's also federal requirement for all hospitals to do so. At HCA, we have created a policy for uninsured patients that is sensitive to their needs – qualified uninsured patients who make less than 200% of the Federal Poverty Level receive free care at our hospitals and uninsured patients having higher incomes receive managed-care-like discounts. Last year at our Reston Hospital, we provided $6.1 million in charity care.

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Dulles, Va.: Why do you want to build a hospital in Broadlands instead of Route 50?

Margaret Lewis: BRMC meets Loudoun's current healthcare needs and is within a 30 minute drive of 90% of Loudoun County residents. In addition, our proposal for Route 50 provides for the community's needs that may come in the future. We are moving forward with providing services along the Route 50 corridor at our StoneSpring Medical Campus, which is at the intersection of 50 and Gum Spring Road. We have specific plans to build a freestanding Emergency Department there, and we have plans to build a hospital when the population numbers can support one. This approach is responsive to the county's current population and also its projected growth.

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Broadlands, Va.: Ms. Lewis,

As a resident of Broadlands I was alarmed when I heard that HCA would be refiling its application to put a hospital on Broadlands Blvd. This proposal does not fit in with the concept plan that was shown to my neighbors and I when we bought our homes. There is large concern over traffic, noise and general safety. What would you say to the thousands of residents opposed to the location of this hospital because of direct negative effects it will have on our homes?

Margaret Lewis: The vast majority of Loudoun residents support BRMC. The hospital will generate fewer vehicle trips during the most-congested times of the day – morning and afternoon rush hours – than would an office building. And the road network in and around Broadlands was designed and constructed to handle a greater number of peak-hour trips than the hospital will generate. We will be spending $200,000 on traffic-calming measures throughout Broadlands as well as approximately $11 million for improvements to Belmont Ridge Road, something residents have asked for and something which will save the county tax dollars.

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Margaret Lewis: I want to thank everyone for spending time with me today. I appreciate your interest in this important issue. We are committed to Loudoun County and to building BRMC in Ashburn to meet the long-standing health care needs in the community.

Right now, because Loudoun has a shortage of hospital beds, one out of every two inpatients leaves the county for care – which means that every day, 30 patients and their families have to travel away from Loudoun because BRMC isn't open yet.

BRMC will bring to the county more beds, services and physicians. Loudoun has half as many physicians per thousand residents as does Fairfax. BRMC should change that and act as a magnet for physicians.

In closing, I would like to share with you HCA's mission: "Above all else, we are committed to the care and improvement of human life." This principle guides us each and every day. Thank you again.

Tagged: Broadlands, business_news

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