Broadlands Medical Facility

I've said it twice and it still doesn't make it wrong. This argument is the Hatfields and the McCoys. And first time poster Pro/con on either side are going to get eyeballed until you post more.

I agree! Using spinning facts is bad. Unfortunately, it's happening on both sides.

 

Then do some more research and go back to the original thread and you'll see it was the pro HCA side that started all the ugliness and distrust. That's why I don't trust first time posters who suddenly show up ala Chris, Killerbee and Stephanie. Post some more on other topics and I'll welcome you into the fold. I would not put it past either faction to salt these forums. I don't belong to either faction. I just don't like the idea of mental wards across from play areas.

And a comment not related to you Jeanne. There is an outpatient Mental facility in the corporate area of Ashburn Farm where the Gym is. Close by but not in anyone's backyard.

 

Homer,

Can you point me in the direction of the scare tactics that HCA has used? Again...I'm doing my own research, not based on everybody else's hearsay. I would like to see it in writing.

 

This is the thread that started it all. There are several off shoot threads to:

http://www.hoa.broadlands.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=46

Just set the forum to show all topics instead of the last 30 days and you can see them all. Also in this thread there is a post saying "If the hospital isn't built here we wont have one when we need one" which is a scare tactic. The COPN clearly shows that the load on Loudoun hospital wont be that tremendous and that most people don't go to the hospital next door anyway.

There are also posts that say Loudoun Hospital is no good, and that we must have a hospital within 1 minute in case the children are hurt, yadda yadda yadda.

Also, to you and Jeanne. I am sorry if you thought I was attacking you. This thread is a warzone and we have seen imposters on both sides. Maybe we should have a "If you're new, post here so we can meet you thread!" So welcome and post away!

 

Thanks Homer for the reference. I will be posting away as I do have some questions that I would like answers to.

Donna,

Is Loudoun Hospital saying they will build the hospital down in South Riding? The research I've found has shown me that nobody has put up any money for it. Nobody has purchased land for it. Nobody has applied to the State for building down there. So if BRMC gets blocked, then who is going to build another hospital in Loudoun County, As I do believe we need another hospital in the county.

 

soxfan, First welcome to the forum...very brave of you to join!!!The comprehensive plan which I'm sure you have researched allows any one healthcare provider to build a hospital in the proposed location. South Riding wants and needs a hospital and this CPAM suggests that the rt 50 corridor is the next logical place to build (based on current/future projected growth), needs assesments, location and easy access. Inova, Valley Health, HCA, LHC, Bon Secor, anyone can build there. Noone has put in a bid for that location because the CPAM needs to be voted on and this HCA Broadlands issue needs to be determined before that location is looked at further.

Please see earlier disclaimer

 

Donna,

We received the letter dated July 16 under your name providing information from "the other side". I just have to ask - Was that mailing something that was funded by you, or the HOA, or LHI, or someone else?

 

Why do you care so much what a persons first post is?!? Does it really matter? I am willing to bet some people came to these forums initially for the sole purpose of reading/posting about the hospital issue.

 

I'm a suspicious person that's why. I've seen to much shananigans not to be aprehensive. I guess you could be right though. The hospital issue would bring people here if they had an idea that there was in issue but how would they when according to our newsletter that the HOA totally supports the hospital despite that there is clear evidence that at the very least the Homeowners are nuetral.

 

Cliff--
All I did was ask a simple question. (I thought you might be able to handle the easy ones.) And your condescending attitude is starting to get really annoying. Obviously the issue is of concern to a lot of people. In fact, HCA had to propose fewer such beds to get the approval they got. And anyone who has paid more than a minute's worth of attention to the whole debate knows that you/HCA/HOA have been doing whatever you can to disguise the services this "hospital" is going to provide.

 

Thanks for your reply Donna. So, if the Broadlands gets denied there isn't going to be a new hospital built in South Riding. I find Loudoun's 3 for all misleading to the general public. I think people believe that if Broadlands gets blocked then Loudoun is going to be building down in South Riding. That obviously is not the case with your response. That leads me into my next question, if not BRMC then when and who? I think HCA said they wouldn't be operational until 2007 or 2008. That's with state approval and already owning the land. Oh and what will HCA do with the land if they aren't allowed to build there? Would we be facing a bigger giant? Does anyone know the answer to that?

I've looked at the statistics and the projected growth plans, I really think there needs to be a hospital built in this area and not South Riding at this time. Besides, does anyone even know if somebody could obtain state approval for it? Everybody is screaming about it only being 5 minutes from Loudoun, well how far away would a South Riding hosptial be from the next closest hospital? I lived in lots of places smaller then this area and there are two or three hospitals within walking distance from each other. They have all managed and survived and are still growing. Actually they seemed to compliment each other with different services. Why is this really an issue here? I would think Loudoun would welcome the competition. If they are as great as they seem to feel, they won't lose one single client and BRMC would flop. Why are they so scared?

As a Broadlands and a Loudoun resident you need to make sure all these questions are answered and we know for sure what would happen if BRMC gets blocked. We may be stuck with just Loudoun Hopsital for another 10+ years. I find that alarming with their current operating load and lack of ability to provide cardiac services. Although some of you are against the mental health portion, I see it as a part of the hospital and not the sole focus. That is just going to be one service of the hospital. Donna, does Loudoun have a problem with "crazy mental people" escaping? Are they running through the neighborhoods and causing havoc? That would be a great statistic to read up on.

I'm not trying to get people fighting or arguing on this forum. I am simply trying to find out the answers for an educated decision. Donna sorry most of these questions are directed at you but you are the only Loudoun Hospital employee I see posting on here. If there are other employees that are involved then please let me know, I'll start bugging them.

 

Thunder,

Would it be too much trouble to post the entire text of the letter? It would be best to see it, in context, to be fair to Donna. I am sure a lot of people would like to read it. Thanks.

 

Soxfan...My response said no such thing that LHC wouldnt consider building. I have to say that there is absolutley no way to ever win on this forum. If I suggested that LHC was interested in building there then it would be that they want a monopoly, I said until all of these issues currently before us are rectified nothing is going to be bid on. I have been fighting this issue for 3 YEARS and I am not going to revisit every issue each time another new person joins the forum. I am not meaning to sound negative about that but if you are doing your research look back over the past 3 years and I think you will be able to answer most of the questions you have posted. I joined LHC in January and am not and will not take the responsibility of speaking on their behalf. Everything I have said, will say or am humored to have said is my opinion only and not that of LHC.

 

Donna...the CPAM that is currently before the Planning Commission is the same one that was presented to the BOS by Loudoun Hospital...so, isn't it really Loudoun Hospital's recommendation to place a hospital in the Dulles South area?

According to the HSANV, Dulles South isn't the place for a hospital..."Although the Dulles planning subarea is projected to grow from 18,000 to 68,000 by 2020, the data in Table 8 show that there are only about 13 patients a day from that area now. Even with rapid population growth projected along Route 50, the Dulles and Southwest planning subareas are projected to generate only about 75 patients a day by 2020." This is why Loudoun Hosp wouldn't consider building a hospital down in South Riding.

Just opened “The Other Side of the Story”...while all of it raises a lot of questions...I found #8 quite interesting...the differences between a for-profit vs. a non-profit hospital. While the board members don't get paid, as you claim, the CEO, Gen Counsel, CFO, CIO and other VPs for Loudoun Hospital certainly do earn a respectable salary (according to their 990s). Also, it would be interesting to learn how much this community hospital has spent over the last couple of years trying to keep HCA out of Loudoun County...money that could have been spent on patient care.

SoxFan...you're right...if Broadlands doesn't get approved, Loudoun Hospital will be the only hospital in our county for quite some time.

 

Once again thanks for the reply Donna. I'm CONSIDERING selling my house and living on a yacht, does that mean it will happen? Probably not. My point was that, there are no plans for another hospital to be built. Without the one BRMC is offering, we aren't going to get one here or in South Riding. The CPAM would be great if you had an investor, land, and state approval to back it up.

Anybody know the answers to my other questions? They seem to have gone unanswered.

 

Right on! The CPAM is a SCAM!

I would love to read this letter, can someone please post it.

 

Brooks5-
My comment that you referred to as "condescending" is no such thing. If you interpreted it that way, I apologize. I will not respond to your attack on me with one on you. That would be lowering myself to your level. I simply asked if you would be willing to learn about the issue you seem to have the greatest fear of. We have one resident who is opposed to the hospital and who was concerned about the mental health issue. This person took the time and effort to discuss this issue with mental health physicians and visited Dominion Hospital. After doing so, their concern over this issue was alleviated (although still opposed to the hospital).
I asked if you are willing to LEARN something about an issue you seem to be the most concerned about. If you did go, maybe your opinion wouldn't change, but you would be able to back up your concerns with some facts about what you learned.
I have never attempted to "disguise" the facts about the mental health issue. In fact, it was concern over this that initially got me involved in researching the hospital plans. I have simply pointed out the truth: The original application had 60 mental health beds: 20 adult and 40 juvenile/adolescent. The second hospital application (the one that was approved) eliminated the adult mental health beds and retains the 40 juvenile/adolescent beds.
HCA says they eliminated the adult mental health beds because LHC was providing that service and because of concerns raised by residents. You can interpret your own reasons for the change. HCA also stipulated that the mental health beds could not be converted to general use beds, which eliminated a concern raised by the state in the denial of the first application.
I have given the reasons why I am not concerned about the issue after spending some time researching the issue with law enforcement officials, physicians, and visits to the facility.
If you want to remain opposed to the hospital because of helicopters and ambulances, that's fine. To me, the fact that HCA listened to our concerns and, working with the county and VDOT, got the emergency entrance moved onto Belmont Ridge has reduced a lot of concern about this. Yes, there will be helicopters (1-3 per week, based on statistics supplied to the HOA by LHC, Reston Hospital, and the medevac company that flies the helicopters). Given this fact, and the fact that we are next to Dulles airport, this does not seem to be a major concern. However, as one person opposed to the hospital told me, "that's 1 more a week than we have now", which is correct.

Donn'a letter was nor funded or endorsed by the HOA. It is fair for her to state that she is on the HOA Board and that she represents the voice of those opposed to the hospital. I felt that she should have disclosed that she is employed by LHC, but she did not think that was a concern since she was opposed to the hospital long before employed by LHC.

I have contacted the attorney for HCA regarding the issue about the zoning and the uses listed in LHC's and Donna's letter. Here is the response:
The BRMC site is actually made up of two parcels. One was originally part of the Broadlands Development, and a section of it was added to Broadlands at a later date (Fallen Willow Farm). This section of land is smaller that the original.
The original parcel of land was zoned PD-OP and listed all of the special exception uses as possibilities (which includes a hospital).
The Fallen Willow property did not show the special exception uses. It listed office park or hotel.
Since the Fallen Willow property is part of the whole property, HCA needs to have it zoned to show the same special exception uses as the rest of the property. Hence they listed research facilities, restaurants, etc., which are all permissable special exception uses.
HCA claims there is not now, or has there ever been, any plans to build anything other than their hospital and associated medical buildings.
End of information supplied by HCA.

LHC has decided to interpret this application to infer that HCA wants to build drive-through restaurants, research facilities, etc. on the property. They even threw in "nightclubs" which I don't think is found anywhere under special exception uses. LHC even unwittingly gave the proof that NONE of these things could even be built on the property. LHC's letter references the approx 850,000 square foot hospital and associated medical office buildings. HCA needs every bit of the 57 acres to build a facility this size. In PD-OP zoning, the size of facilty you are allowed to build is based on the size of the property. Even if they have the available land left over, the county would not let them build much more square footage on the site.
Further proof of this is that I have been working on HCA to allow the community to determine what happens with the 4 acre parcel of their property that is on the east side of Education Drive (the entrance across from Stone Wheel). This parcel is cut off from the rest of the property and runs along Broadlands Blvd. HCA has been considering this, but stipulated that they would not be able to build a structure on the site because they need the acreage to build the hospital.
LHC (according to Donna) is making the assertion that HCA is getting all this zoning for other uses approved so they can sell off the property for these uses if the hospital is turned down.
We'll soon see who is lying and who is telling the truth.

SoxFan-
Welcome to the forums. To answer some of your questions:
We don't know what will be built there if the hospital is not approved. I do know that the developer was marketing it for a seven 5-7 story building office complex about the size of the AOL or MCI campuses. I have the marketing plans that show it.

We also do not know if the state would approve building a hospital in South Riding. It is further complicated in that a site in that area would be 6-7 miles from Inova Fair Oaks. The Health Commissioner generally does not allow hospitals less than 10 miles from each other unless certain needs and occupancy levels at the current hospital are met. This was all examined before the state approved the BMRC site. The hypocrisy in LHC's plan is that they are screaming that a hospital should not be built 5 miles from them, but it's okay to be 6-7 miles from an Inova hospital.

Feel free to contact me if you want to discuss this issue further. I'm tired of typing.
Cliff

 

Cliff,

Thanks, you answered my questions.

afgm,

I think you might be right, the CPAM is a scam.

 

Sorry afgm, but I'm technologically limited there as I only have the hard copy, and it consists of a one page letter with four pages of information presenting arguments against BRMC. Maybe Donna has the electronic copy that she might post?

 

I missed that it is now just juvie beds. If it stays that way and the hospital does not add anymore mental services than I have no problem with it. IF IT STAYS THAT WAY. Once it is here what is in place to stop HCA from doing as they will?