Planning Commission to Vote on Inova Hospital Expansion Tonight

The planning commission will vote tonight on Inova Health Care Service’s application to undergo a $43.6 million expansion of Inova Mount Vernon hospital that would result in about 322,000 square feet of additional floor space.

If passed as is, the multi-phased expansion would include a new 6-story parking garage, the addition of 48 new patient beds and several changes to local roads, according to a planning commission staff report.

Among some of the changes, is the hospital system’s plan to add a 14,000 square foot addition to the emergency department and two new bed towers.

One of the towers will be three stories and include an additional 53,000 square feet. The other is a four-story bed tower addition of approximately 75,000 square feet to be constructed over the proposed emergency department expansion.

The additional square footage will allow the hospital to increase the number of private patient rooms and decrease the number of shared rooms. The healthcare facility expects to add two new ambulatory care centers at 75,000 square feet each. 

The expansion will also include a six-level, 1000-plus space parking deck. Square footage will also be added to the operating room area and energy plant.

At that the Inova’s impending expansion could add to traffic congestion along adjacent roads.

The results of a study of traffic near the hospital show that there could be delays in the morning and evening peak hours at the intersections of Sherwood Hall lane and Holland road lane, Parkers Lane and Sherwood Hall lane and the Parkers lane entrance to the hospital as well as Walt Whitman middle school from general traffic increases.

Inova has said previously that most of the increase in traffic won't come from the expansion, but from other sources.

The hospital system is proposing to add traffic signals to Sherwood Hall Lane at Holland Road, Parkers lane at the Inova Mount Vernon Hospital entrance and Parkers Lane at Hinson Farm road. The hospital may also contribute to a fund that would pay for additional transportation improvements.

Inova representatives have said previously said that the expansion will likely happen in phases, but they are still unsure exactly what those phases will look like.

"It might take 10 years, it might take 15 years, it might take 20 years, we just don't know," said Inova Hospital Systems' (IHS) legal representative Sarah Hall at a Gums Springs Civic Association meeting in May.

The planning commission meeting starts at 8:15 p.m. at the Fairfax County Government Center.

Editor's Note: Due to an error in the county staff report this article misstated the number of feet that would be added to one of the bed towers.