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commentVirginia Commissioner of Health Dr. Karen Remley has extended the validity of HCA's Certificate of Public Need to build a 164-bed hospital along the Dulles Greenway in Ashburn.
The action permits HCA to press ahead with efforts to win development approvals from the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors.
Applications to develop the 58-acre Broadlands Regional Medical Center campus, denied by the previous board of supervisors, have been re-filed and are under staff review in advance of required public hearings before the Planning Commission and the board of supervisors.
"We are very pleased that the commissioner continues to recognize the public need for Broadlands Regional Medical Center," Margaret Lewis, president of HCA's Capital Division, said in a statement today. "BRMC is the right project in the right location and we look forward to the day where we can be a part of the health care solution desperately needed in Loudoun County."
The project is being aggressively opposed by Inova Health System, owner of Inova Loudoun Hospital in Lansdowne. Inova argues that the proposed Ashburn location is too close to the county's existing hospital and that allowing the competing hospital would slow efforts to expand medical services.
HCA representatives say there is a demonstrated need for additional hospital beds and services in Loudoun and point out that their facility would provide needed tax revenue to the county as well as more than $11 million in upgrades to Belmont Ridge Road.
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what a crock wrote on May 14, 2008 2:08 PM:
margaret lewis's comment is such a crock...the commissioner did not recognize any public need, she just followed the regulations that do not allow her deny an extension if there is a lawsuit pending on the COPN. Inova is currently suing to have the COPN revoked - thus if the commissioner denied the extension you can be sure that HCA would have sued the state for the denial, just like they did to the county.
this article is such a crock...it makes it seem like Inova is the only one opposed to the BRMC...what about the Concerned Citizens of Broadlands...what about the National Nurses Organizing Committee...what about the folks down in South Riding that want a hospital near them...there are plenty of more players in this than just Inova.
also the article fails to mention that Marilynn Tavenner (Dr. Karen Remley's boss) is a former HCA EXECUTIVE - any conflict of interest there? hmmm I wonder? "