New details emerge on future hospital
The new Inova Alexandria Hospital to be constructed at the Landmark Mall site will consist of three buildings – a patient hospital, a cancer center, and a specialty center – plus a parking garage.
The updated plan was discussed at an Oct. 17 webinar hosted by the Walsh Colucci Lubeley & Walsh law firm.
Inova will take up about a third of the former mall property. The West End mixed-use development will cover the rest of the site.
The 470,000-square-foot inpatient hospital will have 231 beds. It will have a two-story lobby on the ground floor with a patient welcome center, meditation room, and gift shop; diagnostic services on the first floor. Nineteen procedure rooms of different types are planned for the second floor, and private patient rooms would be on the upper floors.
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There will be a helipad on the roof. Inova estimates there would be a total of 30 inbound and outbound helicopter trips in 2030. The helicopter would “avoid neighborhoods and schools as much as possible,” said Cathy Puskar of Walsh Colucci.
A covered walkway would connect the hospital to a 92,500-square-foot cancer center.
The 71,000-square-foot specialty center will house ambulatory services, doctors’ practices, and exam rooms.
“All three buildings will act as an integrated campus driven by the Inova brand,” said architect Tom Wong with Ennead.
Open space areas include a healing garden, campus meeting space, and community green, Wong said.
The healing garden would be geared toward cancer patients. It would be elevated slightly from the sidewalk and would have private seating areas and plants selected for their fragrance.
The community green could be used for yoga, employee luncheons, or other activities. The campus meeting space is envisioned as an urban plaza with plenty of seating. There will also be a green space on the roof for employees.
The hospital complex would have 930 parking spaces for employees, patients, and visitors, including a new glass-clad, 550-space garage and one level of below-grade parking.
The hospital campus would be accessed from Duke Street on a new road called Healthway Place.
A new signalized crossing will stop eastbound traffic to allow ambulances and visitors to use two left-turn lanes to access Healthway place. That will be completed by the time the hospital opens.
Foulger-Pratt, the developer of the West End mixed-use project, is working on improvements along Duke Street, including a pathway for pedestrians and bicyclists and improved crosswalks.
The Alexandria Planning Commission and City Council are expected to hold hearings on the hospital project in March 2023, Puskar said.
Construction would start in 2024 and would be completed in 2028.
Inova is working with the City of Alexandria to have the new hospital campus attain a LEED Silver designation. LEED is a rating system that certifies buildings for meeting sustainability measures.
The new hospital will replace the existing Alexandria Inova Hospital on Seminary Road. Zoning restrictions prevent Inova from expanding the old hospital, Puskar said.
Inova has already gone through a rezoning process to allow single-family and/or townhouses to be built on the Seminary Road property. The existing Alexandria Hospital will stay open until the new hospital opens.
The Landmark site includes room for future expansion, although Inova doesn’t know what that will entail or when it could happen, Puskar said. “Hospitals are always changing. Inova needs flexibility for future demand. That is a long-term vision.”
