Nashville-based HCA Healthcare has proposed a new ASC in Hanover, Va., in the same spot where the system proposed a new hospital one year ago, according to a Feb. 1 report from Richmond Bizsense.
The proposed facility would have three general purpose operating rooms. HCA plans to relocate two existing operating rooms at Richmond, Va.-based Retreat Doctors' Hospital and one operating room at Henrico (Va.) Doctors' Hospital to outfit the proposed Hanover surgical center, according to a certificate of public need application filed with the state.
The 18,000-square-foot ASC is HCA's latest attempt to expand in Hanover after it failed to obtain state approval for a hospital and freestanding emergency center last year.
The health system will need the same approvals for the ASC under Virginia CON laws, but HCA believes that ASCs are more desirable among patients than traditional hospital settings.
The new ASC has a $20.8 million price tag, including equipment and construction. The new facility is not intended to replace any existing HCA properties.
The ASC will be located on the ground floor of a medical office building HCA has planned for the site. It will be owned and operated by a subsidiary of HCA that would lease the space from its parent company.
In addition to state CON approval, HCA also needs zoning approval from the Hanover board of supervisors to move forward.
"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," an HCA spokesperson told Bizsense.