Broadlands Hospital

thanks for your answers flynn but they are not enough to make a diff:

1 - lot availability with the required size and required infrastructure available.
required infrastructure avail- *** what does that mean- that our population (now or projected) supports the need? and since there (god forbid!!!) were 5 acres of trees uncut they should turn it into SOMETHING- in this case, a hospital?? there are lots and infrastructure in other places, so again, Why here? (don't get me wrong, I am fine with it being built, I just want a real answer as to how 5 miles from another hospital, inviting all of these issues, was the smartest place to build.)

3 - simple, why invite competition that will take revenue from you? *** invite is one thing- mudslinging and spending thousands to prevent is another. if they (Inova) can't fulfill the mecial needs now- and the facts support that statement, why throw so much cash behind preventing the inevitable? seems personal against HCA- that if another hospital tried to come in, it might not generate a hate campaign like THIS has... i dunno. it's simply over the top, and there has to be a basis somewhere.

4 - today is not really relevant when you look at things that service the community over a long time period and can not be built quickly. *** i argue that today IS relevant b/c it is a meter for "tomorrow". if you tell me well "Invoa is doing a great job now, there is no current need for a 2nd hospital. but in 6 years there WILL be a need-" well, whose to say Inova wouldn't expand to meet future needs? but if TODAY the needs aren't being met, again, where is the argument AGAINST the new hospital?

5 - I think the childrens hospital announcement speaks directly to this ***partially- were there in adequate or no children's services before? what else are they bringing?

i don't (knock wood) go to the hosptial much. i don't have any experience with Loudoun Inova. every medical need i have had has been met by my GP or recommended specialists. so i don't HAVE a personal frame of reference.

by the way- hope all of you come to Broadlands Live tonight!!! (shameless plug.. my apologies! but there are sooo many eyes here!!! and it IS a community event...)

 

THESE are some valid facts I can get my teeth into- thank you!

 

1. Because this location is closer to, has better access, and will be more convenient to more of Loudoun County citizens.
Proof: In 2010, 90% of Loudoun County residents will be closer to BRMC than a Rte 50 location. In 2020, even with the additional growth in Dulles South, 87% of the population will be closer to BRMC. You can look at the county population statistics to verify it.
Look at what just happened on Rte 50...a truck fell over blocking the entire road for hours. What would you have done if you needed to get to the hospital? There aren't too many ways to get around down there without a long, long detour. BRMC has the Greenway, Belmont Ridge, Waxpool, Broadlands Blvd, Claiborne, etc. to get there.
Secondly, the State puts a much greater burden of proof if a hospital wants to locate within 10 miles of an existing one. There were three specific statistics that are evaluated. In BRMC's case, these numbers were greatly exceeded and the state granted the COPN approval. So, the state agreed that a hospital 5 miles away was appropriate.

2. Both HCA and Inova have property on Rte 50. Both have said they will build a hospital there. BOTH COMPANIES have said there IS NOT enough population base there to support a hospital for 10-15 years. To be fair these comments were made 3-4 years ago.
Neither company will build a hospital where it is not financially viable.

3. INOVA wants all the money and a monopoly! It's as simple as that! They have said they will lose $31,000,000 if BRMC opens. Do you really need another reason????????
Inova says they can serve the community....by expanding Loudoun and building a hospital on Rte 50. They simply want to be the ONLY hospital in the county.
This is simply a business decision on both parts....Inova wants all the money, HCA wants a piece of the pie.

4. I don't think that's the case today, for the most part. But a few years ago, Loudoun, Reston, and Fair Oaks hospitals were all on reroute due to being at capacity. It's happened before it can happen again. Do you want to run that risk when there's another hospital ready and waiting to be built?
I don't.
And don't forget this county's population is still growing.

5. I suspect most services will be similar. Don't forget that Inova did not offer cardiac catheterization or Pediatric ER services until BRMC was announced and planned to bring in those services.
There may be some things different that BRMC brings in, but I can't quote any.
And who knows what additional things will occur when you have two hospital systems competing for your business!
Lok at the most recent announcement of BRMC partnering with Children's Hospital. That's huge! I personally know children in Broadlands that had to be airlifted to Children's.

 

Not to beat the same injured horse, but this situation (INOVA fighting off HCA) is not personal against HCA, nor is it uncommon. It is very, very, very, VERY common in the healthcare industry for established facilities to throw millions of dollars behind preventing another - any other - company from building a facility that could take away customers and revenue. It does not matter how close to capacity the established facility is, or what benefit aforementioned new facility could have overall. It just is the way healthcare business is done, because it's possible for them to do it that way. The end rationale is that they hope to retain enough revenue stream that the loss in the expenditure to do so is lower than the loss they'd suffer if the new facility is built and takes away some of their revenue stream.

Among others I can't recall, I remember mention of a specialized pediatric/adolescent mental health unit, which is not a common thing for hospitals to offer and which is a valuable service to have in an area populated by young, professional families with children and teens.

 

cliff- THAT's what i needed to hear. crystal clear. no wonder the MAIN thing we hear from the other side is just demonizing HCA as a heartless company, focus on any negative press no matter how long ago... i don't know ONE large company that hasn't had negative press for business practices, or employee rights, or SOMEthing!

the facts that really matters- the NEED for the additional medical care and the fact that competition increases quality- are against them. i think i can climb off the fence.

thank you my friend see you tonight at umm- what's that totally awesome event again...? hmmm...

 

Broadlands live!

 

How true. I was talking to a few of the Children's doctors and administrators about this ongoing battle. I told him that I was shocked at how much healthcare is controlled by politics.
He commented that regulatory/local politics is a cake walk compared to the politics within the medical community!!

 

The above facts provide a sound rationale for BRMC and explain why this has been such a contentious issue. To play devil's advocate, there are some legitimate concerns:

(1) What effect will BRMC have on property values of a) homes very close to the hospital and b) homes in Broadlands in general?

NO ONE has quoted any research either way on this issue. I think you can make a case either way--again, it will depend on who is moving in to the area. Families with small children may love having a hospital with ties to Childrens that close. One could assume a hospital will attract well-paid doctors and technicians who would seek a home here. Others may hate having a big, ugly hospital that close by.

(2) Economic impact. I don't see how the hospital could have a negative impact. The hospital will generate $3MM in taxes for the county--but wouldn't a corporate business park generate the same? I assume local businesses would benefit from the trickle down effect of having so many people working and visiting BRMC.

(3) Traffic. It seems a legitimate concern that BRMC will generate a fair amount of additional traffic in Broadlands. This impact seems to be mitigated overall by the fact that there are various ways to access the hospital without going through our side streets (Belmont Ridge, Claiborne, Broaldlands Blvd). Broadlands Blvd is already zoned for heavier use. I wonder what the incremental traffic would be for a business park.

(4) 24/7 operation. I think there is legitimate concern that a hospital operates 24/7 versus a business park that is mainly 8-6. What is the light and noise pollution potential here? Ambulances coming in and out?

(5) Other. Will a hospital attract people to the neighborhood that our fine residents don't want hanging out here? I have no idea what this means, but I have heard it postulated.

 

steve don't SPIN. i didn't question the VALUE of Children's hospital- i aksed about the CURRENT quality of care. i wasn't DEBEATING the point of whether there is a need- reread my post. since you clarified what infrastructure meant in your post, that question is answered clearly.

chill dude- no need to answer simple questions so defensively- i am not the enemy. i wanted clarity- you gave it- THANK YOU. you need to relax to the max...

man where am i getting these totally cheesy 80's references from?

 

I have go to tell you, this thread is not nearly as much fun to read now that everyone is being rational and presenting real information.:indiff2:

 

Silence Dogood,

You bring up valid discussion points. And I think you'll agree these are the grey around questions, open to opinion. Just a few thoughts on your points. (opinion alert)

On the economic impact. Remember we only get the Belmont Ridge Road enhancements from the hospital. The land currently is zoned for an office park, and an office park is not required to provide road improvements, they could start building tomorrow if they wanted to. No road improvements, no landscape buffers, etc. The County and Broadlands have leverage now due to the fact the hospital will need a zoning exception. Hence, the appearance of all these benies. Also, the hospital becomes a single manageable source of tax revenue. An office park will undoubtedly have multiple tenants. And with the current glut in office space I don't see a comparable revenue amount coming from an office park as it would be from a hospital.

On the traffic impact. The hospital is proposing an entrance off of Belmont Ridge Road, that will mitigate some of the traffic going through Broadlands. No promises of that happening with an office park.

On the 24/7 aspect. Let's remember this is a hospital. People stay in the hospital. It has to be open 24/7. It's not like a factory that is running three full time shifts. The overnight impact of 24/7 will be minimal. Think about the last time you went to a hospital after midnight. Not much going on at all.

These types of issues are debatable and everyone can draw their own conclusions. The facts thou, they are solid.

Redon, I'd respectfully note, you are underestimating the value of Children's Hospital. This is a world renowned organization dedicated to children and their health. We will have Children's Hospital doctors and procedures that will be working in BRMC for Loudoun County children. This alone should wipe out any speculation that BRMC is not good for Loudoun. We should be bending over backwards, as a county, to get such a benefit. To include dropping any competitive concerns about where the hospital is located.

 

No kidding it is amazing what happens when we don't have to deal with vectors into oil, flex buildings, Hollywood stars, Texas, flex buildings, world destruction, bets not kept, late night phone calls, flex buildings, etc etc

 

i can honestly say that you are likely right that i don't recognize the true value of CH, other than the obvious. knock wood, my child has never had a serious health problem, so i don't have ANY experience to draw from. i DON'T know much about Children's Hospital, but i'm sure ppl who have children who need special care DO. that's why i asked the question- to draw out important details like THIS that haven't been the focus of this thread in a long time. away from the muck and back into facts for over a full page now.... niiiice!

 

Agree, afgm. As long as we had a one-day moratorium on fear-mongering and such, I wanted to bring up the "gray areas" and valid points against the hospital so they could be discussed in a rational way. I also wanted to invite opponents of the hospital to address their concerns as well.

No one to date has effectively addressed the issue of property values, one way or another. It could be that we just do not know what impact it will have since there are so many variables that affect home prices, and it may come down to homeowner preference as noted before.

 

But just because a hospital is affilliated with another hospital doesn't necessarily mean that the same services will be available at both. Anne Arundel Medical Center is affiliated with Johns Hopkins. My grandparents in Annapolis still have to travel to Johns Hopkins for services they can't get at AAMC. Just because Children's name is attached to BRMC doesn't mean that people traveling currently will be able to stop those travels.

 

One more point I haven't seen discussed, and to me this is a big reason for me to support the hospital: HCA is a for-profit company that has determined that BRMC is a good investment for them. This alone speaks volumes. A for-profit company is not going to spend millions of dollars building a hospital that they don't think is needed. Only governments waste money in that way.

To put it another way, if the question is "Is this really the right location for a hospital?", then my answer is that HCA thinks it is, and they are so convinced of it that they are going to put their own money behind it. That's good enough for me.

 

Silence,

My answer to this would be that there is no business park currently proposed. At least not that I am aware of. So we get the economic benefit of the proposed hospital now, or we 'hold out' for another developer to come along and propose a business park.

Since there is already a good deal of undeveloped land for office space in Broadlands (along Demott), I don't see it as an either-or situation. We can have the hospital, *and* we will have business offices at some point in the future.

 

i AM asking my neighbors- that's what this forum is! i don't have time or the inclination to go door to door steve, as i sure you don't either. you cited one benefit- clearly one HUGE benefit as agfm expounded for me. by partially i meant that my question was 2 fold, the CH is not the be all and end all of medical care.

i don't feel like arguing semantics- i am too happy to be sucked into negativity today, AND i already got my answers, so let's get back to the GOOD the thread was producing and not bicker.