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Local officials break ground on new hospital in Stafford County Date published: 10/4/2006
By JENN ROWELL Clusters of green and white balloons dotted the 70 acres of dirt on the side of U.S. 1 in Stafford County. The clusters marked the outline of the new hospital that MediCorp Health Systems is building there. Last night, members of the Stafford County Board of Supervisors and the MediCorp board of directors, joined by Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Bill Howell, R-Stafford, broke ground on the 100-bed facility that is expected to be completed in 2009. "All right gentlemen, assume the position," joked Joe Wilson, chairman of the MediCorp board, as the men dug their shovels into the ground and tossed the dirt. The new hospital will bring an estimated 300 new jobs to the area, according to Tim Baroody, the county's economic director. But the hospital will likely bring in more jobs in what Baroody called "the ripple effect." "MediCorp is bringing a major investment to the core area in our county and obviously the private sector is working to follow," he said. Fred Rankin, president and chief executive officer of MediCorp, is also expecting the hospital to be a big boost to the county. "If you look at what new hospitals have meant to other communities around the county, it's a magnet for other companies," he said. "There's a halo effect." The new hospital should cut response times for emergency personnel, according to Robert Gibbons, chairman of the Board of Supervisors. Patients will no longer have to be transported all the way to Mary Washington Hospital, allowing emergency responders to cover more ground more quickly, he said. The site has already been cleared and construction will begin within the next week, Gibbons said. When the hospital is completed, it will provide 100 beds--84 medical/surgical beds, 10 labor and delivery beds, and six intensive care unit beds. It will also house four operating rooms and an emergency department. To reach JENN ROWELL:
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