Bon Secours breaks ground on 90,000-square-foot office at St. Francis, hits snag on beds expansion project

A rendering of the 90,000-square-foot medical office building planned as an expansion of the St. Francis Medical Center campus in western Chesterfield. (Courtesy PSH+)

As one expansion project at St. Francis Medical Center moves forward, another one has encountered a setback.

Bon Secours last week held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new medical office on its St. Francis campus in western Chesterfield, while it also hit a snag in its ongoing bid to secure regulatory approval needed to add dozens of new beds to the hospital.

Last week’s event kicked off work on a three-story, nearly 90,000-square-foot building that would house an outpatient surgical center operated by the health system and is expected to open in late 2026.

In remarks during the event, St. Francis President Joe Wilkins said the new facility would allow Bon Secours to increase access to outpatient services and keep up with demand for medical care as Chesterfield experiences strong population growth.

“Chesterfield County continues to be one of the fastest-growing counties within the state of Virginia, and also we have one of the fastest-growing aging populations in the state,” Wilkins said in his remarks. “At the same time, within the healthcare industry overall, there is an increased need for outpatient healthcare facilities.”

The building’s surgical center would span 11,000 square feet and would feature two operating rooms and a procedure room. The building will also be home to family medicine, neurology and cardiology services, and Bon Secours plans to relocate existing practices based at St. Francis and other nearby facilities to provide those services at the new office. Wilkins said in an interview that there is expected to be leaseable space at the building for non-Bon Secours users as well.

St. Francis President Joe Wilkins shares remarks during the groundbreaking ceremony for a new medical office building at the hospital’s campus. (Photos courtesy Bon Secours)

Bon Secours described the new medical office building as a joint project with several firms in a news release.

Raleigh-based consulting firm Compass Surgical Partners has been selected to help Bon Secours identify and hire staff for the new surgical center. The building is being co-developed with Chicago-based Remedy Medical Properties, which describes itself as the largest private owner of healthcare real estate in the country. Kayne Anderson Real Estate will manage the upcoming medical office building.

Bon Secours declined to share a full cost estimate for the project. The building’s surgical center has been estimated to cost $17.5 million to build and equip, according to a 2023 filing to the state. Bon Secours secured regulatory approval through the state’s Certificate of Public Need (COPN) program for the surgery center component of the project in late 2023. In Virginia, hospitals and certain other medical facilities require regulatory approval from the state before they can be established.

The project’s general contractor is Kjellstrom & Lee. Timmons Group is handling the project’s civil engineering. PSH+ was tapped to design the project, which is planned for an undeveloped 7.8-acre site at 13701 Bon Secours Drive.

Chesterfield Board of Supervisors member Jessica Schneider and Bon Secours Richmond President Mike Lutes also shared remarks at the groundbreaking event held last week.

Bon Secours is seeking the state’s approval to add 40 more acute-care beds to St. Francis.

The project to build the medical office building moves forward alongside a concurrent project by Bon Secours to further expand the number of beds at the hospital.

The health system filed an application in January for COPN approval to add 40 more acute-care beds to the hospital. However, Virginia Department of Health staff more recently recommended only a partial approval of the request, arguing that the state health commissioner provide approval for the four ICU beds requested but not the 36 medical/surgical beds that Bon Secours also seeks.

That prompted Bon Secours to send a letter to VDH in early June, in which it previewed plans to refile its request as it continues to seek full approval of its desired project.

“While we appreciate the partial recommendation, Bon Secours remains committed to pursuing full approval of the project as originally proposed. We believe this comprehensive expansion is critical to meeting the growing and evolving health care needs of Chesterfield County and the surrounding counties,” health system spokeswoman Jenna Green said in a statement. “While we await a final decision from the State Health Commissioner, Bon Secours has also chosen to refile the project in its entirety.”

That request comes in the wake of a 55 acute-care bed expansion at St. Francis that Bon Secours completed last year. The $108 million project involved the construction of a two-story, 110,000-square-foot addition to the hospital.

Moves by Bon Secours to expand its presence in Chesterfield comes as VCU Health is seeking COPN approval for what would be its first hospital in the county.

The post Bon Secours breaks ground on 90,000-square-foot office at St. Francis, hits snag on beds expansion project appeared first on Richmond BizSense.