This letter is in response to a previous letter with the title "The Flaws of Landmark."
I write this letter as a committed lifelong Alexandria resident (born in Alexandria Hospital), a passionate advocate for access to services for all Alexandrians with mental health needs, and the City Council appointed Chair of Alexandria's public behavioral health board (The Community Services Board).
I wish to offer another suggestion for the use of the old Inova Alexandria Hospital site. I see an opportunity to improve badly needed services in Alexandria while bringing in funds from outside the city.
While tearing down old Alexandria Hospital, and building a school addresses one immediate need of the community. It does not bring with it money that Inova requires to fund their new Landmark site, and will not likely be a cost effective way to build a new ACPS school.
One very common sense, but possibly outside the box solution for the old Alexandria Hospital site is to keep the building, and with small modifications, convert it into a public Psychiatric facility. While Alexandria's public behavioral health agency (Community Services Board) has just purchased a building in the old BRAC complex to unify its services from one location, having a State funded mental health hospital to serve the badly under represented number of public mental health beds, would take the burden off Inova to tear down a historic building. Also, building town houses would increase all of the same traffic concerns which were shared about the Landmark site. While keeping the building would separate forensic and Medicaid funded beds from NVMHI in Fairfax County.
I envision a portion of what I foresee as potentially named "Northern State" Mental Health facility serving the public's need for an expansion of mental health beds. I also see a use for short term stabilization beds (limited to under 48 hours) and in my wildest dreams sections of New “Northern State" for treatment of eating disorders and sleeping disorders.
There is a vested cost saving interest from the state of Virginia to convert this almost perfectly premade facility to meet the growing future needs of the rapidly growing population of Northern Virginia.
I also see the profits from the sale of both the Land and the building at Old Alexandria Hospital to be higher than the land and condos or townhouses which would bring with them additional demolition and construction costs. I see a card that Alexandria City Council has to play.
If Alexandria City Council acts as a player in the State's purchase of Old Alexandria Hospital and its land, and agrees to let Inova out of its lease, City Council would be in a position to assertively request that Inova uses some of the additional profits from the sale to the State, to fund a significant part of new West End school project(s). Inova would have motivation to do this both out of gratitude for increase in revenue from the sale of old Alexandria Hospital, and as a committed partner to the Alexandria Community which Inova has a vested interest in the wellbeing of, beyond the immediate physical health of.
Henry Johnson
Alexandria