ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 16, 1997 TAG: 9704160045
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: MARK CLOTHIER THE ROANOKE TIMES
Carilion to consolidate medical offices in Blacksburg area.
Ground was broken - sort of - Tuesday morning on a 10-acre site that, by year's end, will be home to Carilion Health System's Blacksburg Center.
The almost-frozen soil near Prices Fork Road and U.S. 460 Bypass did not lend itself to easy breaking. But a row of company dignitaries gamely turned a loosened golden shovelful just the same.
The ceremony kicked off the construction of the $3 million office of six local family practice physicians. The 19,000-square-foot building will also consolidate New River Valley locations of Carilion Behavioral Health and Carilion Home Care Services.
Carilion Health System President Tom Robertson said the new facility is less a strategic move in a competitive health care market than the consolidation of five local offices. Carilion's chief competitor, Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp., has its largest New River Valley facility, Columbia Montgomery Regional Hospital, just a few miles down U.S. 460.
"We have a strong commitment to this area," Robertson said. "And we view this as an extension of the services we've offered here."
The site, across Plantation Road from the Best Western Red Lion Inn, will also house a nurse practitioner and Carilion Behavioral Health counselors. There also will be Carilion Home Care Services, on-site laboratories, X-ray machines, physical therapy and mammography equipment. There will be 117 parking spaces, 12 of which are handicapped spots.
Specifically, the primary care part of the center will feature 24 examination rooms, two treatment/procedure rooms, a laboratory and a radiology suite. The Behavioral Health section will house five consultation offices and space for group or family therapy.
In the New River Valley, the Carilion Health System employs 1,347 people. In 1996, its New River Valley hospitals admitted 8,092 patients.
Except for one wing, which will have a basement and attic space, the building is one story. It will be a shingle-roofed, wood-frame building, with a brick and stucco-like exterior.
Bob Rogers, president of Architectural Alternatives, the Blacksburg firm that designed the facility, said the plan was to make the center look somewhat residential to blend with nearby development.
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