HCA and Brightpoint launch radiology program at Chippenham Hospital

Representatives of HCA and Brightpoint joined others at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new educational center at Chippenham Hospital, where the community college recently launched a radiology program. (Courtesy HCA)

In search of more imaging technicians, HCA Healthcare is funding a new local academic program to train them.

The health system and Brightpoint Community College recently rolled out a new radiology program based at HCA’s Chippenham Hospital. Brightpoint leases a 3,000-square-foot space, which features X-ray labs, classrooms and faculty offices, on the campus of the South Richmond hospital.

HCA is funding the venture, and has earmarked nearly $3 million for a five-year pilot phase. In addition to renovations and equipment for the instructional space, HCA is providing salary support for faculty and $625,000 to fund full scholarships for the program over the period.

The initial cohort of 21 students started classes in August and is scheduled to graduate in May 2026. Students who attend the program on scholarships agree to work for HCA for two years after they graduate, according to Lance Jones, CEO of Chippenham Hospital. Ten students in the first cohort have scholarships.

The 72-credit associate’s degree program is intended to provide an entry-level education in the field. Students fulfill clinical rotations at local HCA facilities.

HCA says that radiology technicians – healthcare workers who use imaging equipment to identify and treat patients’ medical problems – are in high demand in Virginia. The health system attributed that demand in part to a growing number of freestanding emergency rooms and surgical centers in the region, which feature imaging equipment like X-ray and MRI machines.

HCA Virginia, the local arm of the Nashville, Tennessee-based health system, has stand-alone ERs in the Atlee area of Hanover, western Chesterfield and Prince George, and surgical centers in North Chesterfield and Colonial Heights. The health system is working on opening a freestanding emergency room near Scott’s Addition and a new surgical center outside Ashland.

HCA Virginia also operates Retreat Doctors’, Henrico Doctors’, Johnston-Willis, Parham Doctors’ and TriCities hospitals.

Conversations about the creation of the new radiology program started in mid-to-late 2022. Jones said the health system identified that it needed more imaging technicians and approached Brightpoint about developing a program to serve as a workforce pipeline.

Brightpoint received 53 applications from people interested in the program, and ended up enrolling a little under half of them. Moving forward, Brightpoint hopes to expand the size of the program to 40 students annually, said college president Bill Fiege.

A ribbon-cutting event for the instructional facility on Chippenham’s campus was held last month.

The program has three full-time faculty. Fiege said that while Brightpoint had some expenses tied to the launch of the program, the funding support is almost entirely coming from HCA.

He said that at the end of the pilot, the expectation is that Brightpoint would shoulder a higher share of the program’s costs. The cost to rent the space on Chippenham’s campus is built into the initial pilot funding.

The approximate cost of the program for students, including tuition and other expenses, is currently a little more than $15,000.

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