ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 13, 1996 TAG: 9601140012
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
If Radford Community Hospital will reduce the size and cut $9 million from the cost of the new facility it wants to build in Montgomery County, the project has the endorsement of the state Office of Resources Development.
The Resources Development report that proposes the changes in the Radford Community project also recommends denial of a competing project from Montgomery Regional and Pulaski Community hospitals.
The report, given to the hospitals and State Health Commissioner Randy Gordon on Thursday, said the proposed 97-bed Radford hospital should not be larger than 2,000 gross square feet per bed or cost more than $300,000 per bed. To meet that standard, the hospital would have to be about 18 percent smaller than current plans propose and construction costs would need to go from $35 million to about $26 million.
New health care facilities must have a certificate of need, meaning they must be approved by the health commissioner before they can be built under regulations designed to prevent an excess of hospital and nursing home beds.
The Radford Community proposal is to replace the current Radford hospital. The Montgomery-Pulaski proposal is considered a new facility. The Radford Community proposal previously was endorsed in a staff report by the Southwest Virginia Health Systems Agency and by the board of that agency, which reviews projects for the state.
This is not the final step for the project, however.
Before Gordon makes his decision, the state will hold a fact-finding hearing to give each side an opportunity to promote its project. Even after Gordon's decision, there are stages of appeal, including court.
Gene Wright, chief executive officer of Montgomery Regional, said he had not reviewed the report and was not prepared to comment on it.
Previously, officials at the Montgomery and Pulaski hospitals have indicated the decision could end up in court. The hospitals are owned by Columbia/HCA Corp., the largest system in the country. Columbia also owns Lewis-Gale Hospital in Salem.
Radford is part of Carilion Health System of Roanoke, which owns Roanoke Memorial and Community hospitals in Roanoke. Columbia and Carilion are locked in competition for control of health care in Southwest Virginia.
Lester Lamb, president and CEO of Radford Community, said in a statement that he was pleased with the decision and also expected the project to get final approval from the state. Lamb said the contractor and others involved have not had time to review the construction plans against the recommendations.
The state said the changes it suggests are based on the size and cost of several other hospital projects that recently received approval. The Southwest Virginia Health Systems Agency already had recommended that a child-care center component of the project should be a separate effort.
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