What is being proposed?
Riverside Health System is proposing to build an $82 million state of the art acute care hospital with an Emergency Department between the intersections of Rt. 199, Quarterpath Road and Rt. 60 as a part of a carefully planned development of the Quarterpath of Williamsburg property. The location is a 26 acre site.
Who will approve this decision?
Riverside has submitted a Certificate of Need application to the Department of Health, justifying the proposal and detailing the proposal. After review by the local Health Systems Agency, the State staff will review the application and ultimately it is be acted upon by the State Health Commissioner.
What services are being proposed?
Riverside proposes to build a state of the art hospital, introducing two new services to the region, as well as providing acute care and emergency services:
| Inpatient medical-surgical care | 25 beds |
| Intensive Care unit | 6 beds |
| Long Term Acute Care Services (NEW TO REGION) | 18 beds |
| Short Stay Physical Rehabilitation Services (NEW TO REGION) | 20 beds |
| Emergency Department | |
| Emergency Observation unit | |
The new hospital will provide a full range of clinical services to include surgery, diagnostic imaging, laboratory, cardiology, neurology and pulmonary services.
Will this mean adding hospital beds to the region?
No. Riverside is proposing to transfer beds from Riverside Regional Medical Center, not to add new beds to the region.
Riverside Regional Medical Center would maintain tertiary services such as Open Heart Surgery, Oncology and Neurosurgery and its sophisticated medical technology, such as the Gamma Knife technology, which will be arriving next year.
Riverside would simply be shifting some of its distribution of care to the Williamsburg/James City County area.
Will the growth of the region call for such a hospital?
The Virginia Employment Commission projects that by 2015, the population in the primary service area will increase by 35.4% over the year 2000 population.
The number of citizens over the age of 65 will increase 68.8% during this same period.
The region will need better distributed bed capacity to accommodate this growth.
How will this new hospital affect Williamsburg’s present hospital?
First and foremost, there should be an easing of the Emergency Care burden on the hospital as the region will now have well- located hospitals on each side of the metro area.
The existing 139 beds in the area would run in excess of capacity when factoring in the growth rate – which is projected to increase the demand for hospital beds by 37 percent.
In addition, over 800 patients from the region are admitted as inpatients to Riverside Regional Medical Center each year, and many of these citizens will choose to receive their care at Doctors Hospital of Williamsburg rather than travel to Newport News.
What about the supply of clinical personnel?
Over 500 Riverside employees live in the Williamsburg/James City County area and we anticipate that some of these employees will transfer to Doctors Hospital of Williamsburg to work closer to their home.
In addition, the Riverside Schools of Health Careers will be graduating hundreds of new highly qualified clinical staff into the community. Riverside has been a leader in health education for almost 90 years, In addition to the Riverside School of Health Careers, Riverside also operates 3 medical education residency programs to train and education physicians.
| PROJECTED NUMBER OF RIVERSIDE SCHOOL OF HEALTH CAREERS GRADUATES |
| | | | | |
| Program | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 3 Year Total by Type |
| Registered Nursing | 56 | 66 | 76 | 198 |
| Practical Nursing | 43 | 45 | 47 | 135 |
| Radiologic Technology | 25 | 27 | 30 | 82 |
| Surgical Technology | 8 | 11 | 11 | 30 |
| Total All Grads | 132 | 149 | 164 | 445 |
| | | | | |
| PROJECTED NUMBER FROM WILLIAMSBURG/SURROUNDING AREA |
| | | | | |
| Program | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 3 Year Total by Type |
| Registered Nursing | 13 | 12 | 14 | 39 |
| Practical Nursing | 5 | 7 | 6 | 18 |
| Radiologic Technology | 3 | 7 | 5 | 15 |
| Surgical Technology | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| Total All Grads | 24 | 28 | 27 | 79 |
| | | | | almost 18 % |
| | | | | |
When would the hospital be completed?
Riverside hopes to open the Doctors Hospital of Williamsburg in early-mid 2009.
How would the community have local decision-making regarding the hospital?
Our Advisory Board is already working with the Riverside executive team in the hospital’s design and scope.
Leading Williamsburg area physicians will play a key role in this as well as on the Board of Directors once the hospital is organized. As with all other Riverside facilities, the Board will be composed of leading citizens and physicians, and have total local decision-making.
The Riverside Health System Board is composed of community leaders representing each major institution in the organization.
Four members of this 13-seat System board live in Williamsburg and Riverside’s Chief Operating Officer Bill Downey grew up in and is a Williamsburg area resident.
What services does Riverside already provide in the Williamsburg/James City County area?
Riverside has had a strong presence in the region for over a decade.
This includes:
Williamsburg Medical Arts
-Medical practice
Williamsburg Medical Arts – Urgent Care
-Medical practice
Williamsburg Medical Arts – Internal Medicine/Family Practice
-Physician practice
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
-Physician practice
Patriots Colony at Williamsburg
-A life care community for retired officers of the uniformed services
-One of the most successful military retirement communities in the nation
-360 residents
-Available services to the citizens of Williamsburg area include:
- The Berkeley – Assisted Living at Patriots Colony
- Springhouse at Patriots Colony – special dementia unit
- Convalescent Center at Patriots Colony –nursing home care
Riverside Adult Day Care –Williamsburg
-Day care for elderly parents
Doctors Surgery Center – Williamsburg
-State of the art surgery center owned and operated by 15 leading Williamsburg area surgeons and Riverside
-Located in the Riverside Healthcare Center – Williamsburg
Riverside Diagnostic Center-Williamsburg
-State of the art digital imaging center adjacent to Doctors Surgery Center.
-PET/CT, X-ray, diagnostic ultrasound, MRI, CT, Mammography, Nuclear Medicine, Non-invasive ultrasound, echocardiography, EKG, Stress Testing, Holter
Monitoring, Bone Densitometry, Laboratory
Riverside Healthcare Center – Williamsburg
-Medical office building
Riverside Hospice-Williamsburg
-Home care for terminally ill
Riverside Renal Care – Norge
-Kidney dialysis center
Riverside Renal Care – Williamsburg
-Kidney dialysis center on John Tyler Hwy
Williamsburg Radiation Therapy Center
-State of the art cancer treatment, a joint venture with Sentara Williamsburg Community Hospital
Quarterpath at Williamsburg
-Future development, 380 acres
Riverside employs 283 people in these facilities.
Will area physicians support the new hospital?
A recent poll indicates that 75% of the physician respondents are interested in applying for privileges at Doctors Hospital of Williamsburg.
Does the community support the idea of a second hospital?
In a survey conducted by Bonnie & Company of Virginia Beach in February 2005, 91% of persons interviewed believe the new hospital will have a positive impact on the Williamsburg area. When asked why:
- 80% responded that it would increase the availability of medical services;
- 75% responded that the new hospital would make medical services more competitive and responsive to the needs of local residents;
- 75% responded that it would reduce the need to leave Williamsburg for medical care;
- 55% responded that the proposed hospital would ease a shortage of specialist physicians;
- 50% responded that it would ease a shortage of primary care physicians.
How many new jobs would be created by the operation of Doctors Hospital of Williamsburg?
We project 275 full time equivalent positions once fully operational. Healthcare positions often demand part time positions, so the number of jobs created will be in the order of 350.
What about charity care and community benefit?
Riverside is a nor-for-profit, tax exempt 501c3 organization.
Care for all citizens regardless of their ability to pay is a major part of our Mission.
Riverside Health System reports over $57,151,000 in total charity care, bad debt and unreimbursed Medicaid services in 2004.
Doctors Hospital of Williamsburg has pledged a minimum of 1.8% of gross revenues to charity care. This is the regional average but double what was reported by SWCH last year.
Riverside also financially supports the Lackey Free Clinic, the Olde Town Medical Center and dozens of other dedicated community organizations.
In addition, Riverside has agreed to not request a Property Tax Exemption for this property. This will further benefit the residents of Williamsburg with an enhanced tax base.
What other inpatient health care facilities does Riverside provide?
Riverside’s inpatient facilities include:
Riverside Regional Medical Center –Newport News
Riverside Walter Reed Hospital – Middle Peninsula
Riverside Tappahannock Hospital – Northern Neck
Riverside Rehabilitation Institute – Newport News
Riverside Behavioral Health Center – Hampton
Riverside is also the largest nonprofit provider of convalescent care in Virginia with ten nursing homes throughout the region.
The Gardens at Warwick Forest
Riverside Convalescent Center – Hampton
Riverside Convalescent Center – Smithfield
Riverside Convalescent Center – West Point
Patriots Colony Convalescent Center
Sanders Retirement Village
Riverside Convalescent Center – Mathews
Riverside Convalescent Center – Saluda
The Orchard in Warsaw
Azalea Hall at Riverside Tappahannock Hospital
In addition to Patriots Colony, Riverside operates two other retirement communities – Sanders in Gloucester and Warwick Forest in Newport News.
Riverside is also a large provider of outpatient services with a joint venture surgery center in Newport News as well as Williamsburg, outpatient surgery soon to be offered in Hampton and planned surgery and diagnostic services in the Smithfield/Isle of Wight area.
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