Inova Loudoun held the official groundbreaking Wednesday for a new west wing that will add 28 beds, technology and meeting space to the Lansdowne campus. At the ceremony representatives from the hospital said the expansion delivered on the promise that Inova made to the county when it merged with Loudoun Hospital in 2005. The money for the $11 million expansion came from Inova's merger agreement with Loudoun Hospital.
"Inova Loudoun is keeping its promise to the people of this community," Randy Kelley, chief executive officer for the hospital, said. "This is where imagination becomes a reality."
Kelley said that the expansion was part of the hospital's promise to continue developing and funding community health care in Loudoun.
WHEN IT IS opened, the new wing will add 16 new medical and surgical beds and 12 beds in the intensive care unit, bringing the hospital's bed count to 183. In addition, the wing will provide the hospital with new lab services, an expansion of the pharmacy, additional meeting space and an expansion for the cafeteria.
"Quite simply, these additional beds allow us to take better care of more patients in Loudoun County," Dr. Greg Bentz, who will begin serving as the hospital's chief medical officer in January, said.
"These beds give us flexibility as the pediatric facilities continue to grow and as the adult facilities continue to use more services," David Goldberg, Inova's vice president of planning and development said. "They give us flexibility into the future."
While Kelley said the larger cafeteria and eating space might not seem like an important aspect of the new wing, it will mean a great deal to the hospital's doctors and nurses.
"It certainly makes the environment here better for those of us that come to work here every day," he said.
MARK STAVISH, secretary of the hospital board, said that the additional beds and larger lab services gave the hospital an opportunity to expand on the work it has already been doing in the community.
"It is an opportunity to improve critical care for both adults and children," he said. "These beds strengthen the safety net for the community."
Kelley said one of the things he is most looking forward to in the new wing is the additional meeting space. He said it will give the hospital's many committees and task forces places to get together and discuss ideas for the hospital's future.
"You just need a place where those people can put their head's together," he said.
The 5,000-square-foot expansion will give the hospital 1,500 square feet of administrative space, or two new meeting rooms, Goldberg said.
"Right now we are using patient education space for meetings," Kelley said. "We need the new space."
Throughout the event, people were focused on the importance of keeping Inova's promise to the people of the county.
"You've just got to love, in this day and age, someone who simply does what they say they are going to do," Bentz said.