VHC Health Holds Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony For $250M Outpatient Pavilion
VHC Health celebrated the opening of its new outpatient pavilion with a ribbon-cutting on Monday. Construction on the project began in 2019.
By Mark Hand, Patch Staff
ARLINGTON, VA — VHC Health celebrated the opening of its new outpatient pavilion with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday, where state, local and hospital officials described the importance of the new addition to the hospital campus in Arlington.
The $250 million expansion project included the construction of a 250-square-feet, six-story building that will offer outpatient surgery, imaging, pharmacy, lab, endoscopy, physical therapy and women’s health. Construction on the outpatient pavilion began in late 2019.
In April 2022, Virginia Hospital Center rebranded itself as VHC Health. The ribbon-cutting for the expansion project marks the next chapter in VHC Health's growth as a major healthcare services provider in the Washington, D.C., area, VHC Health said.
“I recall the excitement that we had in 2019 when VHC officially kicked off this expansion project,” Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey said at the ceremony on Monday. “Beyond the bricks and mortar, it was to provide and fill in gaps in the health care needs of our community. It is great watching it all coming to fruition today.”
The hospital facility has been operating in the D.C. area for more than 75 years. In 2015, Virginia Hospital Center, formerly called Arlington Hospital, became a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, which is composed of health organizations across the country and gives member physicians access to Mayo Clinic expertise.
The Virginia Hospital Center's 530,000-square-foot facility on N. George Mason Drive features a nine-story hospital building and 1,100 parking spaces.
Construction of the new outpatient pavilion also included a new 1,700-car parking garage, which was completed in 2021. Skanska USA won the contract to serve as construction manager of the new outpatient pavilion.
The extension to the VHC Health campus to the north required the replacement of the county-owned Edison Center on the 1800 block of N. Edison Street. Arlington County moved the services it offered at the Edison site to other locations around the county as part of an agreement with VHC Health.
Christopher Lane, president and CEO of VHC Health, said that consolidating outpatient services under one roof will provide convenience to patients and allow them to be seen within the same building, often on the same day.
"No more going from location to the next," Lane said. "Having services under one roof also means improved coordination of care, enhanced communication between caregivers, more efficient workflows and a comprehensive approach to health care."
State Sen. Barbara Favola, who represents Arlington, said she believes the new outpatient pavilion in Arlington will help to divert patients away from the emergency room and emergency clinics.
"I believe not only will our patients receive coordinated care, they will also have the benefit of partnerships, which Virginia Hospital Center has been wonderful at creating," Favola said.
"When the hospital partners with a Community Services Board provider or another nonprofit in the community, our patients receive follow-up care, case management and also an acknowledgement that social determinants need to be addressed," she said.
Lane noted that the design of the pavilion focused on providing open green spaces around the facility for patients and their families. The building was also designed to be a green building, minimizing its environmental impact and optimizing its energy efficiency, he said.