Belvoir Community Hospital project developing well

Posted July 15, 2009
By Jerry Rogers
Norfolk District Public Affairs

07/15/09 - The $806.9 million Fort Belvoir Community Hospital Military Construction project, which began Nov. 8, 2007, and is set for completion in spring of 2011, is developing well on schedule, said project team members.

The Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages the project's construction phase, which is on an accelerated timeline as mandated by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) authorization. Once completed, the Joint Task Force National Capital Region (Medical) will staff and equip the facility for subsequent operation.

HDR/Dewberry Joint Venture designed the project and the construction contractor is Turner-Gilbane Joint Venture. The 1.275,000 sq. ft. military construction project features a six-level community hospital, including medical administration areas. The design includes 120 in-patient beds, a 10-bed intensive care unit, a 10-bed behavioral health inpatient unit, a cancer center, an emergency department, a pharmacy, an operative services center with 10 operating rooms, diagnostic centers such as pathology and radiology, and modular clinic space dedicated to outpatient services.

Additional space is planned for future outpatient expansion. In addition to the square footage of the facility itself, the project includes two parking garages and surface parking for 3,500 parking spaces, a helipad, ambulance shelter and dedicated central utility plant.

Once opened, the Fort Belvoir Community Hospital will become part of an integrated health care network providing world-class medical services to the nation's wounded Soldiers and families.

The hospital is one piece of the BRAC 2005 realignment designed to increase hospital and outpatient care to all service members and veterans.

Other important elements of the realignment include a state-of-the-art joint National Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and closure of the hospital at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The new facilities will be jointly staffed rather than single service billets with a mix of military medical professionals from the Army, Navy and Air Force.

This unprecedented and transformational decision ushers in a new model for health care delivery in the National Capital Region. While military hospitals have traditionally provided care to beneficiaries from all services, military treatment facilities were never staffed with a representative mix of medical personnel from the service medical departments.

For more information, visit http://www.belvoirnewvision.com/.