Panel likes
Stafford hospital
April 5, 2006 12:51 am
By JIM HALL
MediCorp Health System was the winner yesterday in
round two of the competition to build new hospitals
in the Fredericksburg-area.
A regional health planning agency endorsed MediCorp's
proposed hospital and rejected the one offered by its
rival, HCA Health Services of Virginia.
The board of directors of the Northwestern Virginia
Health Systems Agency, meeting in Culpeper, spent about
four hours considering the two hospital plans before
voting to recommend MediCorp's Stafford Hospital Center.
"We're very pleased," said Fred M. Rankin
III, MediCorp's president and chief executive officer,
after the vote. "We worked very, very hard to
understand what the needs of this community were and
the location of where the next expansion should be."
The board members followed their endorsement of MediCorp's
plan with a rejection of HCA's proposed Spotsylvania
Regional Medical Center at Massaponax.
"I don't think the board fully appreciated the
benefits" of the HCA plan, said Mark A. Foust,
vice president for marketing. "We look forward
to continuing the process."
Yesterday's endorsement was the second for MediCorp.
The Rappahannock Health Advisory Council recommended
approval of both new hospitals at a hearing last month
at the University of Mary Washington.
This time, board members said they could see the need
for one, but not two new hospitals.
"We could end up spending a lot of money here," said
board member Charlie Horton.
And they said that MediCorp's plan for a 100-bed facility,
10 miles north of Mary Washington Hospital near the
county courthouse, was superior.
HCA, a Nashville-based, for-profit corporation, has
proposed building its hospital seven miles south of
Mary Washington.
"MediCorp has demonstrated, as a not-for-profit
hospital, a record of providing community service," said
Jack Rowley.
Rowley added that population growth in the Fredericksburg
region is fueling the need for additional hospital
beds, that expansion at Mary Washington is not practical,
that MediCorp has a superior record of charity care,
and that Stafford residents have a hard time reaching
the present hospital.
"The Rappahannock River is a major barrier," he
said.
Rowley is a resident of Stafford and works as a consultant
to the paper industry. His motion to endorse the MediCorp
application passed 13-9. The vote to recommend rejection
of the HCA plan was 14-7.
MediCorp officials said they welcome the endorsements
they have received, but the votes do not guarantee
that a Stafford hospital will be built.
The applications must now travel to Richmond, where
they face two more levels of review. A Health Department
analyst will study the plans and recommend one, both
or neither. That recommendation is expected in about
two weeks.
On May 11, a Health Department hearing officer will
hold an "informal fact-finding conference," where
both companies get another chance to explain their
proposals.
In 2004, MediCorp's plan for a rehabilitation hospital
in Fredericksburg won favor at the local and regional
levels, as its full-service Stafford hospital project
has.
But the tide turned in Richmond, where Dr. Robert
Stroube, the state health commissioner, chose the competing
rehab hospital plan offered by HealthSouth.
Stroube will again have the final say. He is expected
to act on the MediCorp and HCA plans sometime this
summer.
In a related development, the Stafford County Board
of Supervisors unanimously approved a rezoning and
a conditional-use permit for the proposed Stafford
hospital last night.
MediCorp's proposed site is planned for 70 acres off
Courthouse Road and U.S. 1. Thirty-eight acres are
zoned agricultural or residential. The rezoning makes
that land urban commercial, like the rest of the property.
A conditional-use permit will allow a hospital and
medical offices on property zoned urban commercial.
It also raises the height limit in that area from 65
to 90 feet for a five-story hospital. The approvals
are necessary to show the state health commissioner
that the proposed facility could be built on the site.
--Meghann Cotter contributed to this story.
To reach JIM HALL: 540/374-5433
Email: jhall@freelancestar.com
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Hand-in-hand
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