Meeting with Stevens Miller

The meeting with Mr. Miller that was advertised in the Broadlands Newsletter has a new location.
It will still be tomorrow at 7pm, but it will be in the Eagle Ridge Auditorium, not the Nature Center.

 

is there a sign up process?

 

Not that I know of. Just show up.

 

Thanks for letting us know. I assume they are expecting a big turnout.

 

Linux,

It amazes me at how much misinformation continues to spew from those that support this issue. Just to clarify, the CCB folks are not bused in from anywhere... they are your neighbors... the ones that will be the MOST IMPACTED by this location...

The attempts to try to discredit us is really dissapointing, but not surprising.

 

Donna,
If no one was bussed in, then why did i see people getting off buses with anti hospital shirts on?

 

MJbenteler, See... this is how misinformation starts...I never said NO one was bused in. I said no CCB people were.

I know there were some that used buses as parking was limited, both sides did this.

I will say that it was inappropriate that HCA hired high school students to be seat fillers. This is one of the reasons that over 100 county residnets were turned away. Some of those were scheduled to speak and were unable to do so.

I will also say that both sides were boisterous at the public input, so for others to say it was only CCB is yet another area that needs clarification.

It's unfortunate that this issue continues to divide this community...

 

Eric,
You shouldn't be so quick or snide with your remark. I was at both of the last meetings, and I think that both sides could use a little "shot" of maturity.

Donna,
Please don't read into this other than Eric's dis enchantment with CCob and BRMC past actions.

 

I hope that everyone that attends tonight realizes this is not a public input session about the hospital that was last week. There is a lot more going on here in the county then just the hospital. This is Stevens meeting with the community to also update us on taxes, roads, schools etc. I am sure the hospital will be a large part of his discussion but I hope everyone gives him a chance to discuss other issues effecting us.

Staci

 

Donna,
sorry. so no Broadlands residents were not bussed in, it was INOVA? Please clarify this for me. (not being a smart @#%, don't understand.)
I have to say that I was embarrassed by the behavior of many people at the planning meeting. I did not hear one pro hospital person heckle or jeer at a anti hospital person while they spoke, they waited until they were done. Anti hospital people couldn't wait and were very intimidating while a speaker was speaking. Many anti hospital folks were very rude and very loud. Both side were are wrong to act like this!!!
Reading different threads, we are all worried about the teenagers and thier actions, how about us adults and our actions? teenagers have an excuse, their brains are developing. What happened to the adults? Maybe they themselves had "smelly clothes" one too many times.

 

My understanding is, they were INOVA employees (wearing the white t-shirts). The CCoB group were wearing the yellow "fallout" tees and were Broadlands locals, generally.

I would be interested in some proof about allegations that HCA paid high schoolers to occupy seats. Also, some hired high-schoolers were why people were turned away? Not the hundred-ish head of employees INOVA brought in by busloads to take up seats... NONE of whom spoke... and then all left at the first break? Sorry, I am more than certain THEY are why over 100 county residents were turned away.

What curious comments....

 

The meeting was very civilized tonight. And from my observation, only Broadlands residents attended (or at least spoke). No "Reston Limousines" buses in front of the school like I saw at last week's planning commission hearing.

 

And no Inova buses!

 

i wasn't at any other meetings but last night's meeting WAS civil, mature, and an eye opener. i don't think some of the anti hospital folks are understanding the alternative- multiple offices with NO need to negotiate and can go as cheap as they want- anyone look at the bldgs across from the REGENCY to see how ugly bldgs and layouts can really be??

i understand their concerns with noise and traffic, but since BOTH will come anyway with either the hospital or office bldgs, it's time to focus on what's best for the community. the most valid point AGAINST the hospital that i hadn't given much thought to was the 24-7 nature of the extra activity the hospital will bring to the Broadlands. otherwise, to me, the hospital still seems like the lesser of 2 evils...

and by the way- Stevens Miller- what a nice, smart guy. i really enjoyed how down to earth he was- the fact that he lives here makes me trust that he too wants what's best for the Broadlands. but man what a tough job he has- pleasing a neighborhood of folks of COMPLETE opposite sides of a fence on a very important issue... i'd hate to be him!

 

+1 about the cheap buildings Redon. In this economy I don't believe commercial office builders are going to spend one dime more than the bare minimum so we're not going to get pretty buildings with nice architectural detailing and class A touches. Take a look at the buildings behind Harris Teeter on Ash-Vill/Rte 7 - that's what I envision in my neighborhood and I personally would much rather have a hospital screened by trees and landscaping. My concern about office buildings going there also includes the possibility that they will have a hard time finding tenants (like the aforementioned complex) and the half-used property with multicolored For Lease signs will make the area look less-than-thriving. The quiet parking lot and dark corners will be a magnet for those who like to hang around late at night and get into mischief (there was a robbery at gunpoint very close to the aforementioned, behind the Harris Teeter there, last week). I know that *something* commercial is zoned to go there, so I've always accepted that the trees will come down and the traffic will increase, but given the *choice* my preference based on the above would be for a hospital.

 

Respectfully, I think this impact has been trumped up to the "worst-case scenarios" by BRMC opponents. and I know, such may have also been done by those relating the impact of an office park (I will not take a stance on that either way, as aside from working in an office park, I don't know much about running and planning one). I'm sure some will find fault with what I'm about to say, and I welcome good, open, frank and constructive discussion about this.

Most of the numbers bandied around for this are focused on key times during the day: for an office park, the times of 8am and 5pm for the typical "rush hours" with an understanding that some (but few) employees would be on flex time (arriving and leaving earlier or later than the typical times). The hours for hospital land-use have been 7am, 3pm, and 11pm. As a nurse with experience working in, and with, a number of hospital facilities, I find it is VERY IMPORTANT to consider that a large majority of shift-changing staff in a hospital are nurses, and that the large majority of nurses these days work twelve-hour shifts. This would mean any traffic generated by the nurses coming and going at their shift changes would actually be at 7am and 7pm -- two shifts, not three, meaning a third less traffic daily than those using a three-shift model... even less if you consider that the night shift is usually staffed with fewer nurses than the day shift is.
Hospitals do employ a vast number of support staff who may work 8-hour shifts, but nowhere near the volume of nursing staff. Most who do typically work 8-hour days are going to be travelling during routine rush hours, as well, such as administrative, management, and professional support staff (like business operations, IT support, etc). Some exceptions to this would be in outpatient areas, where times closer to typical business hours are more likely; emergency departments, which may have shift changes at both 12- and 8-hour intervals; and surgical areas, which in my experience typically run 6am to 6pm or 8pm shifts depending on how well their post-surgical patients are recovering. In addition, traffic from visitors and inpatients is generally spread out throughout the course of visiting hours, which are usually 8am to 10pm (and vary some by facility and unit, but this is generally accurate). Inpatient beds do not completely turn over every day, or frequently, so the 164 beds in the BRMC plan will not mean 328 cars of traffic each day, more likely only a fraction of inpatients will turn over daily. The majority of patient traffic will be the outpatient office buildings - again, spread throughout the day, like any medical office building; and the emergency department, which has its main entrance on Belmont Ridge, specifically to mitigate traffic issues on other roads. It would be inefficient, and dangerous from the perspective that faster access to emergency care for critical patients is paramount, for ambulances to use Glebe View road instead of Belmont Ridge road to get to the ED.
But most important to me is the fact that the majority of the nursing staff will only be turning over shifts twice a day, at 7am and 7pm typically.
It's understood that hospitals operate on weekends, but usually on a smaller staff level (same as the nursing night shift, typically) and the outpatient areas and medical buildings typically do not operate on weekends, meaning lesser traffic concerns than the "worst-case" scenarios being described by BRMC opponents. I grant there will be an increase in traffic, but I don't believe numbers adjusted for more typical healthcare staffing patterns are compelling enough to consider them damning.

Just my thoughts, for what they're worth.

Admins: if this should be in the Hospital thread instead, let me know and I'll move it (or you can since I only get 10 minutes to make changes, thank you).

 

One of my concerns about the hospital concerns not the hospital itself but the potential for surrounding "professional buildings" aks office buildings.

I have not seen a hospital that was not surrounded by professional buildings for the doctors and laboratories. If the hospital is built on Broadlands Blvd, what restrictions will there be for the construction of office buildings after the hospital is finished?

What is the Virginia position on commercial "Eminent Domain"?

After the hospital is built will some slicky developer decide that the homes on Stonewheel Way/Broadlands Blvd would make a great office park for expensive professional buildings?

Or will we end up with the worst of both worlds. A hospital AND an ugly office complex all on the same plot of land?