Riverside Breaks Ground on Hospital Tuesday

By Amber Lester Kennedy Monday, July 11, 2011

Seven years after purchasing land in Williamsburg, Riverside will break ground to begin construction of its Doctors Hospital on July 12.

Riverside officials and local leaders will be on hand at 9 a.m. Tuesday to help the company dig in to begin construction work on the hospital. It is the first building construction to begin on the 380-acre project that will ultimately include the hospital, commercial business, retail and residential development. The eventual Quarterpath at Williamsburg development will span the land between Harris Teeter on Route 199 and Route 60.

The groundbreaking event at the Route 60 entrance near 199 will feature remarks from William Downey, president of the Riverside Health System; Alan Witt, chairman of Riverside’s board of directors; Mayor Clyde Haulman; City Manager Jack Tuttle; and James City County Administrator Robert Middaugh. Attendees will also see the unveiling of an artist’s rendering of the hospital.

The project has been delayed over the past seven years as the hospital has worked to demonstrate the need for its medical care in the area. After the citizens of Williamsburg lobbied for a hospital in that location, the state health commissioner approved the hospital’s Certificate of Need in May 2009. Site work construction began in October 2010, and a site plan for the hospital was submitted to the city on Feb. 14.

The 100,000-square-foot Doctors Hospital will have 40 in-patient beds, six intensive-care rooms, a same-day surgery unit, a 24-hour emergency care center with 12 treatment rooms, a diagnostic center, a lifelong health center and plans to offer cardiac catheterization, pending state approval. In April, Riverside’s Steve McCary said the facility will be geared toward serving the health needs of baby boomers, and can expand if it becomes necessary (read more here).

The hospital will cost $65 million to bring on-line, including equipment costs, and will employ 200-300 people with a payroll of $10-$15 million. Construction is estimated to be complete by winter of 2012.