Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 23, 1990 TAG: 9003232131
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER
SOURCE: KIM SUNDERLAND CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Radford Community Hospital will build a new cardiac catheterization laboratory when design approval, expected this month, is final.
"We want to make high-tech care available here in the New River Valley," said Susan Lockwood, Radford Community's vice president of marketing and planning.
Montgomery Regional Hospital also is waiting for approval for a new $1.5 million medical office building.
The Division of Licensure and Certification of the state Health Department is expected to approve the $1.2 million Radford project soon, said hospital officials.
The two-story addition would be adjacent to the hospital's critical-care unit and house the expanding cardiac services division, the cardiology department and space for outpatient surgery.
"There has been an increase in the number of patients that have to travel to Roanoke Memorial for cardiac services," said Dr. William Crafford, director of cardiology. "We wanted to be able to keep the patients closer to home and provide the same quality care."
By July, there will be three cardiologists at Radford Community. Crafford and Dr. Uzair Wyne will be joined by Dr. Craig Barnett, from Charleston, W.Va., to cope with the growing number of patients seeking cardiac care.
Site preparation started in February, according to Norm Brinkman, a Charlottesville developer who is handling both hospital projects. The Radford Community project is expected to be completed in June.
When the expanding cardiac services relocate to the addition, the vacant space will be used for the growing geriatrics department, Lockwood said.
"We have spent three years identifying the services most needed in this area," said Lockwood. "Cardiology and geriatric services need special attention and this has forced the expansions."
Although the Radford hospital plans to relocate, Crafford said it will not happen for about five years "and patient care requires help now."
Montgomery Regional Hospital needs to jump two hurdles before new medical offices are built on its property.
First, the two-story complex of approximately 16,000 to 20,000 square feet will be built on almost five acres of land adjacent to the hospital at Virginia 808 and U.S. 460. That property is zoned residential, so a special-use permit would be required.
The Montgomery County Planning Commission recommended approval of the permit on Wednesday, and a public hearing is scheduled at the Board of Supervisors meeting Monday.
The second concern for the hospital project is the sewerage.
Anderson & Associates, a consulting engineering firm in Blacksburg, found that additional sewage from the hospital project and other area development would not overtax the pump station.
"When we started this survey, we didn't know if the new development would be the straw to break the camel's back," said project engineer Tom Roberts of Anderson & Associates. "But the overload chances in the near future are low."
The town of Blacksburg received the Anderson & Associates survey last week and will recommend whether the hospital project can hook up to an existing sewer line already in use, according to Adele Schirmer, public works director.
Blacksburg owns and maintains the pump station, which is outside the town limits and charges for services through an agreement with the county Public Service Authority.
Because the pump station is in the Public Service Authority's district, determining who provides service to the new facility "will all have to be worked out," said Gary Gibson, utilities director for the authority.
Schirmer said if the project is approved, plans to hook up to the existing sewer line will need to go through Blacksburg Town Council. "Then Town Council will decide on a sewer service agreement," she said.
After the rezoning and sewer issues are decided, Brinkman said, he will finish meeting with physicians and physicians' groups who plan to buy space in the proposed building.
The tenants will own, not lease, space in the new building and will not necessarily be affiliated with the hospital.
The Montgomery Regional Hospital project could start as early as midsummer with occupancy scheduled for early next spring.
by CNB