Dr. Muriel Azria-Evans, director of mental health and wellness at Health Brigade, meets with a patient via telehealth. (Photo by Jay Paul)
Connected Care
Telehealth services gain traction with state legislation
Earlier this spring, Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed a bill into law that amends the state plan for medical assistance to explicitly include payment for consultations delivered through telehealth. The legislation went into effect on July 1.
As disparities in access to healthcare continue to be an issue across Virginia, recent studies, including one from researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University and VCU Health, have shown that telehealth services have gained and retained popularity with patients statewide since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When there are provider shortages, telehealth really helps, whether it’s primary care or mental health,” says Dr. Muriel Azria-Evans, director of mental health and wellness at Health Brigade.
Health Brigade is one of many Richmond-based clinics that began seeing patients via telehealth visits during the pandemic and decided to maintain those services. The nonprofit health clinic also treats a significant number of Medicaid patients.
“I was a skeptic, I will tell you that,” Azria-Evans says. “But the data and experience really are turning around to the benefits of telehealth. There are comparable outcomes for clients, so I’m a true believer.”
The impacts of telehealth access are most profoundly felt by low-income and rural patients, studies have shown, because eliminating barriers to transportation can improve health outcomes overall. While some in the medical community champion the immediate assistance telehealth provides, researchers note that challenges, including the out-of-pocket expense of virtual visits, are holding back the potential for widespread access. By allowing Medicaid to cover telehealth appointments or online appointments, lawmakers hope to provide a new low-cost option for patients.
“When you’re thinking about Medicaid clients, those are people with the least resources,” Azria-Evans says. “Those are people who may not have a car to get to therapy or a primary appointment.”
A similar bill, also signed into law this spring, ensures coverage for up to 10 visits for postpartum doula care, comprehensive dental care for pregnant women, and remote patient monitoring for specific patient groups.
Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center, pictured, could be joined by two new hospitals in Chesterfield County in the next decade. (Photo courtesy Bon Secours / John Gerber)
The Hospitals Next Door
In growing Chesterfield County, health systems eye new and expanded facilities
In March of this year, the state health department paved the way for a host of hospital projects to crop up in Chesterfield County, adding 166 additional beds and some $700 million in estimated cost.
Three Certificate of Public Need requests were approved by State Health Commissioner Dr. Cameron Webb for VCU Health, Bon Secours and HCA Healthcare, which submitted proposals in 2025. The plans include an expansion of Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center off Charter Colony Parkway in Brandermill and two new hospital projects: Magnolia Hospital from HCA Healthcare at Hull Street and Otterdale roads and a yet-unnamed project from VCU Health on Iron Bridge Road near the Chesterfield County Courthouse.
HCA Healthcare’s proposal is meant to “help address the region’s growing need for high-quality care closer to home,” according to a statement from Wesley Hester, HCA Virginia’s director of media relations, a sentiment similarly noted in the proposals from VCU Health and Bon Secours.
According to the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, Chesterfield has grown an estimated 10% between 2020 and 2025. Adding over 30,000 residents, it is the state leader in nominal population growth among counties.
Before these approvals, there were only two full-service hospitals in Chesterfield: HCA’s Johnston-Willis Hospital, in North Chesterfield, and Bon Secours’ St. Francis, which opened in 2005. According to the Chesterfield Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, 46% of patients transported by EMS went to hospitals outside the county.
The state commissioner granted conditional approval for around 60 beds, several operating rooms, a cardiac catheterization lab, and CT and MRI scanners at both VCU Health’s and HCA’s Magnolia hospitals. Meanwhile, Bon Secours is adding another 40 beds at St. Francis Medical Center.
To obtain a Certificate of Public Need, a health provider must prove to the Virginia Department of Health that a proposal’s market is underserved for services provided by the project. All three approvals state that the projects are “unlikely to impact existing providers significantly.” However, on April 10, Bon Secours filed two notices of appeal, questioning the necessity of its competitors’ proposals and citing the possibility of duplicating services. The appeal would make Bon Secours the sole approval of the March 13 decisions; in June, VCU Health and HCA filed motions to dismiss Bon Secours’ appeals.
Jenna Green, the external communications manager for Bon Secours, said in a statement, “This approval represents an important step as we continue planning to support access to care, advance health equity and responsibly respond to the growing healthcare needs of Chesterfield County — one of the fastest-growing regions in Virginia — and the surrounding communities that St. Francis Medical Center has served for more than two decades.”
