The hospital war in Loudoun County is heating up, with two competing health care groups announcing new facilities in the last four days.
Inova Health System said Monday that it had filed a formal letter of intent with Virginia to build an 80-bed hospital on Route 50 in Loudoun County, just three days after the Hospital Corp. of America announced plans to expand its facility in nearby Reston.
Two weeks ago, the county Board of Supervisors rejected HCA’s proposal that would have paved the way for a new hospital in Broadlands, about five miles from Inova’s Lansdowne campus.
Inova plans to build a health complex on the property it owns at the intersection of Route 659 and Route 50, near Washington Dulles International Airport, as a precursor to the hospital it plans there. A health complex would provide the cornerstone for a full-service hospital and would not require a certificate of public need from the state to provide emergency care, new physician offices and other outpatient medical services.
“The decision by Hospital Corporation of America to grow its Reston campus now clears the way for a hospital on Route 50,” said Randy Kelley, chief executive of Inova Loudoun Hospital. Kelley said Inova’s goal is to have the Route 50 Healthplex operating within 18 to 24 months.
The letter of intent means the hospital will apply for a certificate of public need for a full-service hospital by June 1. Inova spokesman Tony Raker cited the company’s zoning approval and the area’s growing population as a “winning argument” for the region’s need for a hospital.
“Locating a hospital on Route 50 will allow Inova to accelerate the growth of medical services on Loudoun Hospital’s Lansdowne and Cornwall campuses,” said Knox Singleton, president and chief executive officer of Inova Health System.
But Mark Foust, a spokesman for HCA, had a different opinion.
“After orchestrating [county planning] for the express purpose of blocking Broadlands Regional Medical Center and spending millions of dollars to deny Loudoun residents a hospital in Ashburn, it’s more than a little ironic that Inova speaks about Route 50 in terms of its community commitment — and telling that it expects the facility to accelerate the growth of its Lansdowne campus,” Foust said.
Raker disagreed, arguing that the planning process took place over a year, and that county planning documents say that the Route 50 area needs a hospital.
“[The plan] does not say who should put it there,” he said.
“Now [HCA is] criticizing Inova for its lack of community commitment?” Raker continued. “Please.”
