The Hanover Planning Commission is expected to vote on a zoning request tied to a hospital campus proposed by HCA for a site near Ashland. (BizSense file)
After mixed success in securing state approvals for a planned Hanover hospital campus in the past year, HCA remains undeterred in trying to get the property rezoned.
The Hanover Planning Commission is slated later this month to consider a zoning request by the health system for medical facilities on a 40-acre site on Sliding Hill Road near Ashland.
HCA’s plan is to build a 60,000-square-foot medical office building as the first phase of development, with an ultimate vision of building a free-standing emergency department and, over time, a hospital on the property.
The health system’s Nov. 21 hearing before the Planning Commission follows HCA’s unsuccessful attempts last year to secure the state’s approval for a 60-bed hospital and a free-standing emergency department, which was pitched as an alternative to the hospital project.
HCA had more luck with state regulators in a subsequent request for a surgical center for the site, which was approved this past summer. The plan calls for a 20,000-square-foot surgical center that would be built as part of the medical office building.
A June 2024 plan showing the phased development of HCA’s proposed medical campus in Hanover. The campus would feature a hospital as well as medical office buildings. (County documents)
An HCA spokeswoman declined to comment on the project when reached last week.
HCA plans show a second phase would involve the construction of a free-standing, 13,000-square-foot emergency room, which would be a precursor to a 60-bed hospital. HCA’s spring phasing plans submitted to Hanover state that the hospital would be expanded with an additional 90 beds, and a second medical office building of 80,000 square feet also would be built on the campus. There’s also a portion of the property marked “future outparcel.”
The projected timeline to complete the entire campus is eight to 15 years. It was unclear how much the campus is expected to cost to build, though HCA estimated its previous pitch for a 60-bed hospital to cost $233.6 million.
HCA got the OK from the Virginia Department of Health in July for a surgical center on Sliding Hill Road, which is dubbed the Middle Virginia Surgicenter and would have three operating rooms. Existing operating rooms at Retreat Doctors Hospital in the Fan and Henrico Doctors’ Hospital in the western part of the county would be relocated to the Hanover surgical center.
The surgical center is expected to cost $20.8 million and be completed by the end of May 2027, according to the project’s approval letter.
A medical office building is planned to rise in the first phase at the proposed HCA medical campus in Hanover. The campus is expected to eventually have two office buildings, as well as a hospital. (County documents)
The free-standing emergency room and hospital, which were both shot down in late 2023, would need regulatory approval through VDH’s Certificate of Public Need program, and apparently HCA intends to file new applications for those projects. Virginia requires that certain medical facilities and equipment be reviewed and approved through that program before they can be established.
HCA is seeking to rezone the project site, which consists of 10054 Sliding Hill Road and several additional parcels, to Community Business District (B-2) with conditions from the assemblage’s current Agricultural (A-1) and General Business District (B-3). HCA also is seeking a conditional-use permit to allow the construction of a helipad on the property.
The health system has indicated plans to buy the property. According to online county records, the land was still owned by entities tied to the Pruitt family as of last week.
HCA has had its effort to secure local zoning approval for the medical campus in the works for more than a year, though it has yet to go before the Planning Commission. At the upcoming meeting, commissioners are expected to vote on whether to recommend final approval of the project to the Hanover Board of Supervisors, which would render a final verdict at a future meeting.