Observer Online | Viewpoints | Doctor Says New Loudoun Hospital Vitally Important

Posted Nov. 8, 2002

Doctor Says New Loudoun Hospital Vitally Important

To the editor:

I am a physician in a small private practice in Ashburn, near the proposed site for the HCA replacement hospital. Our office with two physicians and one nurse practitioner is extremely busy and our patient load is growing every month, a reflection of the continued influx of residents into Ashburn.

From the time I was very young, I wanted to be a physician. My approach to healthcare is as close to the old-time family doctor as current constraints will allow. I am very concerned because I see how the population explosion in Loudoun County is overwhelming the health care system. When overcrowding is consistent, as it is at Loudoun Hospital, patient care suffers and nurses and other hospital staff burnout.

I have privileges at both Loudoun Hospital and at Reston Hospital. There is a national health care crisis: health care shortages, skyrocketing insurance premiums for patients and for physicians, un-insured and temporarily out of work individuals who have lost insurance with layoffs. We are all in this together and we need to think and plan strategically to address the current and ongoing needs of our community.

The proposed Broadlands Regional Medical Center would provide residents of Loudoun County a combination of existing services that do not meet the capacity needed and additional services that are not currently available locally.

We need Broadlands Regional Medical Center now. Loudoun County has outgrown the concept that one hospital can be everything to everyone. We need more beds, more emergency room space and access and we need more operating rooms. If my practice is any indication, and I am sure it is, we cannot simply monitor the healthcare utilization for a few more years. We need the proposed replacement hospital to break ground as soon as possible to bring much needed services before we experience further deficits as the population continues to grow. We should recognize the lessons learned the last few times Loudoun residents asked for more hospital beds.

Building a new hospital is the most decisive method of addressing Loudoun¯s Healthcare deficits. HCA has provided quality healthcare services to Loudoun County residents through Reston Hospital since 1986. We are fortunate to have the opportunity for HCA to build a hospital within Loudoun County to ease the overcrowding and bring new services and physician specialties. The combination of Loudoun Hospital, Reston Hospital and Broadlands Regional Hospital would provide a local solution to local healthcare needs.

James Ditaranto, D.O.

Ashburn