Broadlands Hospital

And many other county businesses, residents, and organizations support BRMC, the only proposed hospital and the only one with a COPN. Period.

 

Of course it could. There a covenants in place, community guidelines, and of course, as is happening with the hospital right now, good old fashioned community involvement and pressure.
The hospital also is not "required" by zoning law to leave a buffer, nor to provide a small plat to the HOA. As pointed out by a Van Metre board member on 10/14, any development in there could be expanded to 10 stories, whether it is a hospital, office park, or retail center (or a school administrative building).
All restrictions on height and appearance have been either self-imposed, or through negotiations with the various government bodies.

 

A by right does not deal with ANY government bodies. There is no reason for them to negotiate there is nothing in it for them to give something up and spend more money. An office park can do what ever it wants on that spot. This is the MAJOR problem with By Right building. That is why it is called a by right. This is how we got the ugly green building on the corner of Chickacoan and Waxpool with no buffers. No nothing added, NO extra anything. They came in and built what they wanted.
This difference between something that needs a special exception to be built and a by right build - Negotiating


Staci

 

Intimidated

I was at the public hearing last week, and as i mentioned a long time ago i am pretty new to this area and this debate. I was going to speak but decided not to since the anti-hospital crowd was acting so obnoxiously. I dont get intimidated easily, but i wasn't comfortable saying i supported the hospital. Did anyone else feel this way?

I know there are a couple more opportunities to speak out about this, including one with Sup. Miller. I don't want to feel like my opinion doesn't count or i will get some sort of backlash if i speak my mind.

 

I went to the hearing but had to leave early. I left a recorded message there about my support for the hospital. I also emailed a letter to the planning commission and the board of supervisors.

I am sorry you felt intimidated there. I too saw some anti-hospital people being rude to pro-hospital people that were saving seats for spouses. I then saw these same people refuse to give up the seats they were saving.

It is unfortunate that people can't try to listen to each other in a rational matter. I guess that is politics.

 

I'm pro hospital.

 

This continues to fascinate me. The Anti-hospital folks got just want they wanted when you didn't want to speak up. You were BULLIED by these intellectual midgets! Stand up for your rights and speak up. Don't allow ANY ONE of these morons stop you from your right to public speech! Do you think you'll stop THEM???

This is what happens when people can't muster the intellectual firepower to creatively project opposition with sound reason and logic. They yell, disrupt, and pontificate without point or reason.

I particularly love the argument of Inova...it's about land use! No it isn't. It's about health care and my access to it. For them...it's about competition and their attempt to stymie that.

And for those of you who think if you don't live in Broadlands, you shouldn't have a say on the matter...you're wrong! Hospitals are regional in nature. Get over it. If that were the case, then Inova should have anything to say about it.

I'm pro-hospital...I'm pro-access to choice and access to health facilities. I'm pro-competition to improve quality. I am anti-trying to shut other people up by trying to publicly humiliate them through cat-calling and laughing during while their publicly expressing their opposition. Try that with me.

Grow up, you pansies!

 

This proves you are absolutely mis-informed. Do some more reading on by-right development.

 

Where would we find the information on by-right development? I think that would be a good reference to have.

 

Contact the county's building and development office. These folks are always very helpful and, if they can't answer your questions, can steer you to someone who can.

The School Admin Building is an example of by-right for that property. I'm pretty sure there were no public input sessions required, nor was it required to be voted on by the Planning Commission or the Board of Supervisors.

 

Hello everybody. It's been quite a while since I've joined the fray. I've just spent the last 2 hours reading all of the posts over the last couple of months and I'm pleased to see that both sides have remained decent and put forth good questions and answers.

Unfortunately, I experienced a much different mood at the hearing. I was absolutely appalled at the behavior of the CCoB group and the people who were bussed in for the event. Anyone who partook in the pre-adolescent behavior (significantly worse than even my 6 year old on her worst day) should be ashamed of themselves. Furthermore, I did not appreciate being jeered at when I spoke of my experience in both of the INOVA Hospital locations. I praised INOVA for my care; it was very good. My issue is that LoCo is desperately in need of more hospital beds NOW! As I said, why is it that with such a fast growing county, we can build 20 new schools but no more hospitals?

If this hospital is built, it will not only alleviate Loudoun Hospital, but I'm sure that it will help with the overcrowding of Fairfax, Reston, and Fair Oaks as well.

As I said before, I could care less where it is built, I just want another hospital nearby. Unfortunately, what the man (Randy Kelly ?) from INOVA said was false. You can't just "check a box" and move the COPN (Certificate of Public Need) from one location to another. I was told directly by commission planning staff that it couldn't. I was also told that the real reason why INOVA does not want the hospital to be built in Broadlands is that if the Broadlands exception is not approved, then HCA and INOVA will then go head-to-head against each other in the state COPN process for the Rte. 50 location. INOVA keeps stating that they won't fight HCA's application on Rte. 50, but that is apparently untrue as they've purchased land on Rte.50 and have already pursued and were issued the special exception for that property. The point is, we haven't even taken that fight (between HCA and INOVA on Rte. 50) into consideration when we stated that it would take a hospital over 10 years to be built on Rte. 50. If they end up fighting over there, how much longer would it take to actually get a hospital built over there?

I cannot state enough, don't wait until you or a loved one is in need of emergency care or major medical care to support the hospital. We needed these services years ago. We need them now, not another decade or longer.

I could go on and on about all of the other things stated here, but this whole thing is becoming exhausting.

 

I seem to recall seeing signs about the School Board building, so there must have been hearings. In any case, they have proved to be a pretty good neighbor. I don't see a lot of activity on evenings and weekends. The only complaint we had was that employees refused to stop when school buses were loading and unloading children on Broadlands Blvd! If Education Dept employees don't heed flashing lights on buses, I hate to think what the workers and patients at a medical complex would do -- especially since a number of our buses would be loading or unloading during shift changes at a hospital.

 

Jgamon:

I, too was at the hearing on Weds and thought that at times the crowd got out of hand. I am sorry you felt intimidated..this was supposed to be an opportunity for everyone to voice their opinions to the planning commission. What really upset me was that both sides bussed in a lot of non-county residents to bolster their arguments.

One thing people seem to forget is that hospitals like Reston also serve Loudoun County residents. You mentioned that a new hospital in Broadlands would alleviate overcrowding at Reston and other Fairfax hospitals. If you look at Reston hospital occupancy rates over the last few years, you will find they range from 58 - 76 % -- hardly overcrowding. And Reston Hospital is less 20 mins from Broadlands. You also state that the location in the COPN cannot easily be changed. Change of location is one of four criteria that can easily be accommodated under the COPN process. It falls in the same category as extending the time to build a hospital. HCA has already exercised the latter at least twice. A Rte 50 location for the new hsopital would still put 3 hospitals within a 20 min drive of Broadlands while providing better access to health care for a greater number of Loudoun county residents.

It really pains me that the hospital issue has so divided our community. Unfortunately, whatever the planning commission and board of supervisors decides, it will likely result in years of lawsuits. I wish there were an easy way to resolve this, but am resigned to the fact that both camps are so entrenched that compromise is not an option.

 

Don't forget...you do not have to stop if it is a divided highway and you are travelling in the opposite direction.

 

If you were at the hearing, this was shown to be unequivocably NOT TRUE. A letter was read and submitted form the state that explained that a change of location is a significant change that would require a complete vetting of a new location......appropriateness of location, traffic, infrastructure, etc.
It was also pointed out that two other hospitals have voiced objection to a Rte 50 location.
It was also clearly shown that a much greater percentage of Loudoun county residents live closer to BRMC than a Rte 50 location. These were the county's own population statistics.
With Rte 50's lower population base, objections, and poor road infrastructure, I wonder if a hospital would even get a COPN there.

 

Having been a hospital administrator, I can say without hesitation that changing a COPN is almost as bad as a new application.

 

Just an FYI, you don't have to stop on a divided highway if you are going to opposite direction of the bus. Don't know if i explained that proprly. But the people on the other side of the road going to the admin building don't have to stop for the bus that stops on the corner of Chickacoan and Broadlands Blvd. They are following the rules.

 

Spaceguy,

If your stats are true about Reston, then why didn't INOVA have the courtesy to transport me there instead of making me wait 12 hours for a bed? Could it all be about $$$ and not the care of the patient? I certainly hope not. I liked Shangri-la better.

 

I will admit that I was nervous to speak and that it was a bit intimidating to walk through the crowds of people with the white and yellow shirts; but the rude behavior and the jeering at me when I spoke only served to irritate me and give me a strong sense that speaking up for the right thing is that much more important.

It also pains me that our community is divided on this issue. I wish that everybody could agree; but it is the beauty of our country, is it not, that we can disagree and still live peacefully and be friends at the end of the day? It's kind of like this horrific election process.

I just wish that people would actually do true research (instead of listening to/reading the propoganda) to make a decision. I personally have nothing against either company involved. I will state yet again, I like INOVA very much. I just want another hospital soon. After doing extensive research on that, I've come to the conclusion that BRMC is the only hospital that will be built in a timely manner. Period.