A year after HCA first proposed an ultimately doomed project to build a hospital on Sliding Hill Road in Hanover, the health system is back with a new proposal for the same spot.
HCA wants to build an outpatient surgical center with three general purpose operating rooms at 10054 Sliding Hill Road, which is just off of Interstate 95 near Ashland.
According to a certificate of public need, or COPN, application filed this week with the state health department, HCA plans to relocate two existing operating rooms at Retreat Doctors’ Hospital in the Fan as well as one operating room at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital in western Henrico to outfit the proposed Hanover surgical center.
The 18,000-square-foot center would be designed to offer surgeries for patients who don’t need to stay in a facility overnight. The surgical center project is HCA’s latest crack at expanding its presence in Hanover at the Sliding Hill Road property, following unsuccessful attempts last year to secure state approvals needed for a hospital and free-standing emergency center there.
“Given the previous COPN decisions, HCA Virginia has continued evaluating how we provide care across the greater Richmond area. The proposed surgical center would significantly benefit our patients in those areas by improving access to high-quality surgical services from their preferred health system at a location much closer to home,” HCA spokeswoman Pryor Green said in an email.
The health system’s application states that the project would create a more efficient distribution of surgical services in the region by pulling existing resources to the new location. HCA also said the center-based model, as opposed to service in a hospital setting, was more desirable among patients amid increasing demand for surgical services.
The health system will need the state’s approval to move forward with the center. Virginia’s COPN program requires providers of medical care to secure the approval of the state health commissioner before establishing or expanding certain facilities and services.
HCA’s facility, which it has dubbed the Middle Virginia Surgicenter, has a $20.8 million price tag that includes construction and equipment costs. The new center isn’t intended to replace an existing facility, according to the application.
The surgery center would be located on the ground floor of a larger medical office building HCA has planned for the Sliding Hill site. It was unclear from the application how large the medical office building would be. The building itself would not need state approval to be built. It was also unclear how much the overall building would cost to build.
A site plan of HCA’s proposed surgery center, which would occupy the ground floor of a medical office building on a 40-acre site on Sliding Hill Road in Hanover County.
The surgical center would be owned and operated by a subsidiary of HCA that would lease the space from its parent company. The facility would be built on a 40-acre assemblage that HCA intends to purchase. The land, which consists of four parcels, is owned by entities tied to the Pruitt family.
In addition to approval from the state, the project would need zoning approval from the Hanover Board of Supervisors to move forward. According to the application, HCA plans to request a rezoning of the property to commercial (B-2). The site’s parcels are a mix of community business (B-3) and agricultural (A-1).
In a letter of support included in the application, Hanover County Administrator John Budesky wrote that the proposed center would help address rising demand for surgical services in the section of the county where the project is planned.
“We expect exponential growth in this area to continue,” Budesky wrote. “We appreciate HCA Virginia’s efforts to redistribute its existing healthcare resources to better meet the growing needs of our residents and its existing patients.”
The surgery center proposal is the latest effort by HCA to establish facilities at the Sliding Hill Road property.
In January 2023, HCA filed an application with the state that sought approval for a 60-bed, $233 million hospital (called the Ashland Hospital project) for the site. That project was shot down by the state later in the year, as was a separate application to secure permission to set up equipment needed for a free-standing emergency and imaging center at the same site. The state health commissioner approved a competing proposal from Bon Secours to build a free-standing ER and imaging center of its own nearby in Hanover.
A year after HCA first proposed an ultimately doomed project to build a hospital on Sliding Hill Road in Hanover, the health system is back with a new proposal for the same spot.
HCA wants to build an outpatient surgical center with three general purpose operating rooms at 10054 Sliding Hill Road, which is just off of Interstate 95 near Ashland.
According to a certificate of public need, or COPN, application filed this week with the state health department, HCA plans to relocate two existing operating rooms at Retreat Doctors’ Hospital in the Fan as well as one operating room at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital in western Henrico to outfit the proposed Hanover surgical center.
The 18,000-square-foot center would be designed to offer surgeries for patients who don’t need to stay in a facility overnight. The surgical center project is HCA’s latest crack at expanding its presence in Hanover at the Sliding Hill Road property, following unsuccessful attempts last year to secure state approvals needed for a hospital and free-standing emergency center there.
“Given the previous COPN decisions, HCA Virginia has continued evaluating how we provide care across the greater Richmond area. The proposed surgical center would significantly benefit our patients in those areas by improving access to high-quality surgical services from their preferred health system at a location much closer to home,” HCA spokeswoman Pryor Green said in an email.
The health system’s application states that the project would create a more efficient distribution of surgical services in the region by pulling existing resources to the new location. HCA also said the center-based model, as opposed to service in a hospital setting, was more desirable among patients amid increasing demand for surgical services.
The health system will need the state’s approval to move forward with the center. Virginia’s COPN program requires providers of medical care to secure the approval of the state health commissioner before establishing or expanding certain facilities and services.
HCA’s facility, which it has dubbed the Middle Virginia Surgicenter, has a $20.8 million price tag that includes construction and equipment costs. The new center isn’t intended to replace an existing facility, according to the application.
The surgery center would be located on the ground floor of a larger medical office building HCA has planned for the Sliding Hill site. It was unclear from the application how large the medical office building would be. The building itself would not need state approval to be built. It was also unclear how much the overall building would cost to build.
A site plan of HCA’s proposed surgery center, which would occupy the ground floor of a medical office building on a 40-acre site on Sliding Hill Road in Hanover County.
The surgical center would be owned and operated by a subsidiary of HCA that would lease the space from its parent company. The facility would be built on a 40-acre assemblage that HCA intends to purchase. The land, which consists of four parcels, is owned by entities tied to the Pruitt family.
In addition to approval from the state, the project would need zoning approval from the Hanover Board of Supervisors to move forward. According to the application, HCA plans to request a rezoning of the property to commercial (B-2). The site’s parcels are a mix of community business (B-3) and agricultural (A-1).
In a letter of support included in the application, Hanover County Administrator John Budesky wrote that the proposed center would help address rising demand for surgical services in the section of the county where the project is planned.
“We expect exponential growth in this area to continue,” Budesky wrote. “We appreciate HCA Virginia’s efforts to redistribute its existing healthcare resources to better meet the growing needs of our residents and its existing patients.”
The surgery center proposal is the latest effort by HCA to establish facilities at the Sliding Hill Road property.
In January 2023, HCA filed an application with the state that sought approval for a 60-bed, $233 million hospital (called the Ashland Hospital project) for the site. That project was shot down by the state later in the year, as was a separate application to secure permission to set up equipment needed for a free-standing emergency and imaging center at the same site. The state health commissioner approved a competing proposal from Bon Secours to build a free-standing ER and imaging center of its own nearby in Hanover.