Broadlands Hospital

Cliff, I actually studied this when I was at UVA. Roanoke's healthcare is almost split right down the middle with HCA on one side and Carillion on the other.

Beside the increased cost, another little dirty secret happens...it's called patient dumping (or COBRA violations in technical parlance.) See it goes like this using the players here in Loudoun County. Note: not accusing any hospital here doing this. This is an example. INOVA sees a patient that is either out of network, under insured or indigent. By law, they have to at least evaluate the patient and provide treatment up to the level of care for that facility. Let's say Joe the Electrician (egad) shows up with chest pains. INOVA doesn't have a cardiologist on call but BMRC has a CCU and the requisite cardiololgist. Boom...Joe gets an ambulance ride to BMRC for a "up transfer" which he may or may not actually need. Doesn't matter to INOVA, he doesn't have insurance anyway.

OH! Don't think it doesn't happen? Do a little research, there sports fans. I've seen patients arrive at the hospital I was working in a taxi. The ER staff from the other hospital put them in and paid for the taxi! When I when I was at UVA, we used to get "dumps" from all kinds of places...West Virginia would send their Medicaid patients to UVA before they passed a law stopping that. We used to get dumps from many notable hospitals from NoVA... and they used to get "free" helicopter rides to boot.

Who pays??? You do! The fun is only just beginning. I call the "stupid hospital tricks".

 

Recheck the numbers in Roanoke. Is that recent data? I don'r think it's split any more.

 

I didn't get the same read off these articles.

Actually, I thought that they were both, to quote the honorable (and fictional) Judge Chamberlain, "lucid, intelligent, well thought-out objections."

 

Nope, not recent data. Since I left UVA, it was no longer fun to watch.

 

I go to doctors, dentists, orthodontists appointments, in addition to hospital for emergencies as needed with 3 kids.

I am just a bit confused about expectations from a hospital neighborhood and how it should be, because the add in the newspaper by Concerned Citizens of Broadlands warns about:

Dangers about:
24 hr 7 days a week

Speeding ambulances

Frantic friends

Big trucks and some other trucks taking over the quite neighborhood...

My question is : I see non of that when I go to Inova area, I saw non of that when I lived in Reston and worked in Reston Town center and had to go to my doctors by Reston hospital and shopped at Trader Joe's...


So where are these dangers when comes to these hospitals... Are they all waiting for BRMC to open.....

 

Just remember that each side is "reporting" information that furthers their position and/or hurts the other sides position.

Nothing but a kabuki dance.

 

I agree- I lived across the street from Reston Hospital in the town center when my house was being built. Maybe ONCE I heard an ambulance, but I do remember this time being when I was walking my dog outside. I welcome the idea of a hospital closer to Broadlands, along with welcoming more jobs into the area (lets face it, we need that!). The moment someone has a family member fall ill, you will be very happy you have a hospital that close by.

 

For a synopsis of the real issues involving the hospital debate, read Steven Pearlstein's article in today's Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/29/AR2009012904086.html

 

I like how he points out that it is a land use issue. Everyone seems to forget this and is letting their personal feelings get in the way. I know that no matter what something is going to be built there and I would rather see a hospital than a few more buildings such as the school board one.

One big issue I have is that if it is voted down, HCA will probalbly sue and and it will end up costing us, the taxpayers, money in legal fees for a case that HCA probably will win since it is a LAND USE ISSUE!!!!

I think in the end the citizens of Loudoun County are going to be the ones who end up paying and with what money, I have no idea.

 

I wish the Board vote only look at this as a land use issue....because it would be a slam dunk approval.
And don't worry....if it's approved, Inova has already signaled they will sue, using the names of residents as the Plaintiffs. They will do just about anything to protect their monopolistic empire of healthcare in Northern Virginia. And, as Pearlstein points out, this costs us ALL more in insurance costs because Inova is in a position to dictate to them their margins.

At this point, I don't know that HCA will try suing again. They may just give up on Loudoun and move on.

 

Cliff,
I may be wrong here, but didn't Loudoun say they would not fight a hospital built over on Rt. 50? If so, don't you think they would try to build over there instead? It seems to me, many here on this forum are fed up with Loudoun and would not use their services and go to a Hospital 5 miles in the other direction.

 

HCA has committed to building their free standing emergency service department on Rte 50 now if BRMC is approved, with the eventual expansion to a full-service hospital...when the time is right.
They are looking to spend several hundred million dollars investing in a hospital here and they have a state COPN for the Broadlands site. I will not presume to know the type of decisions needed to be willing to commit this type of investment, but they do. Would you move your project to a location that your COMPETITOR says you should go????

 

So, I heard that the proffer to widen Belmont Ridge road was from Truro Parish to Briar Woods High School. Is that correct? What about the rest of it, up to route 50? Does anybody have info on that?

 

I thought HCA has this in their application.

Since the Feb 3rd vote, the BoS will most likely vote BRMC down (4-5 vote), maybe Inova can foot the bill, as they only plan to widen to Route 7.

Inova sure 'sweetened the pot', 2 days after Supervisor Lori Waters stated she plans to vote against BRMC (great political move for the Chair of Loudoun's Economic Devp Comm), Inova profferred up millions of dollars in funds for Belmont in her district.

I guess this is Loudoun's & Inova's way of Paying to Play...chicago style.

 

Yes, that is correct, it is in their proffers as well as a traffic light at Truro Parish/Rte659.
Other than another section in Brambleton, the rest is unfunded.

 

They aren't widening Rte 7. They are proffering up most of the money needed to build the interchange at Rte 7/Rte659.

 

Thanks for the info, Cliff. It would be nice to get Belmont widened a bit farther, but every little bit helps....