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HCA VIRGINIA TO BUILD LOUDOUN'S SECOND HOSPITAL JANUARY 2008: HCA Virginia, one of the largest and most respected health-care providers in the Commonwealth, plans to build a new state-of-the-art hospital in the Broadlands area of eastern Loudoun, where the Greenway intersects Belmont Ridge Road. Called Broadlands Regional Medical Center (BRMC), the new hospital is good news for Loudoun residents, but not everyone is happy about it. "Loudoun Hospital has fought the new hospital tooth and nail for the last four years," says Tom Simmons, creative director of The Thomas Simmons Agency, which was hired to create a communications campaign in support of the new hospital. "It's crazy. And it's not in the best interests of the residents of Loudoun." Loudoun Hospital, which was acquired by health-care giant Inova Health System in 2005, contends the new hospital will be too close to its Lansdowne facility. Yet even Loudoun Hospital spokespeople acknowledge that more than fifty percent of Loudoun residents leave the county for hospitalization. And Inova Loudoun Hospital recently announced plans to create an expanded hospital campus at their Cornwall Street facility in Leesburg, which would be closer to Lansdowne than BRMC. "It's not really about location, it's about competition" says Simmons. "Inova enjoys a monopoly in Loudoun County and they want it to stay that way. We think Loudoun residents deserve a choice in health-care providers. Competition always benefits the consumer and critical service offerings always improve." The campaign focuses on the importance of having community hospitals located right in residential communities, not a single location that's difficult for many residents to reach when family and loved ones need emergency care. The Thomas Simmons Agency represents clients in consumer, business-to-business and emerging technology sectors. For information, call 540-882-4418 or e-mail . |