When it comes to health care, metro Richmond offers pretty much all you need.
The area is a dynamic medical market, with three major players — Bon Secours, HCA and VCU Health. That’s good for consumers: Options here are plentiful, convenient and top-notch.
Brad Hamilton, Truist health care industry manager (Photo courtesy Edelman)
“It’s a pretty good place to be,” says Brad Hamilton, health care industry manager for Truist, the financial institution that was formed by the merger late last year of SunTrust Bank and BB&T.
Hamilton works with medical care providers across the mid-Atlantic and Southeast.
Collaborative efforts abound, from VCU Health’s partnership with Sheltering Arms to Bon Secours Mercy Health’s initiatives with VCU and HCA. There are also acquisitions, such as Bon Secours buying Southside Regional Medical Center in Petersburg.
Major facilities in the works include VCU Health’s $371.5 million adult outpatient hospital and the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU’s $350 million inpatient hospital on Broad Street.
The two VCU projects on Broad Street offer parking at the same place where you get services, enhanced patient care and a “more cohesive experience,” but they will also be cost-efficient for more involved medical services, says Melinda Hancock, CFO and chief administrative officer for VCU Health.
There’s also the $119 million inpatient rehabilitation project at the West Creek Medical Park in Goochland County, a joint effort of VCU Health and Sheltering Arms.
Big building projects are becoming more of the exception, as providers concentrate on offering services in outpatient settings. Such sites are cheaper to operate, they’re usually closer to the patient, and they are fast becoming the preferred way to access care for patients, says Hamilton, making them a “big focus for all these hospitals.”
There’s a convenience factor, they cut travel time for consumers and it’s also cheaper to have some procedures done on an outpatient basis, which makes this approach popular, but the downside for the health care provider is it “also may cannibalize the profit centers,” the regular hospitals, Hamilton says.
Still, people are more likely to seek care if it’s affordable and easy to get to, Hancock says, adding. “We have all recognized that care is local.”
VCU providers are available outside the main campus at facilities such as the Health Hub at 25th in the East End, Stony Point in Chesterfield County and Short Pump to the west. VCU Health also is investing $16 million in an emergency medicine center in Quinton that’s projected to open in the spring in New Kent County.
Bon Secours’ acquisition of Southside Regional Medical Center in Petersburg was completed in January. (Photo courtesy Bon Secours)
Cooperative Efforts
Attuning and aligning cultures is a focus for 2020 at Bon Secours Mercy Health, as it melds recent acquisitions such as Southside Regional Medical Center in Petersburg and facilities in Emporia and South Hill into its operations, says Faraaz Yousuf, president of Bon Secours’ operations in Richmond. “Harmony is going to be a key,” he says.
The merger of Bon Secours with Mercy Health in 2018 and the combined financial weight of the new nonprofit was a key in acquiring the South Virginia medical facilities last year, says Yousuf. Richmond will continue to be a flagship market for Bon Secours Mercy Health, he says.
A challenge will be changing the culture of the new facilities, as the staff gets used to the differences that come in the shift from working at a for-profit health care provider to being part of a nonprofit organization. This will mean “changing the culture of for-profit to what we love and value, getting into our mindset,” Yousuf says.
He describes 2019 as a year of transition, thanks to the Mercy deal and the Southside acquisition. In 2020, he expects to see a period of stabilization, a time of “getting to know one another,” with the new entity emerging as “a fully integrated group” by 2021.
“It’s all evolving,” Yousuf says.
Partnerships are crucial in health care, both for making the most of the care that’s available and extending care to those in need and in ways that reduce costs. Truist’s Hamilton notes that VCU has been a major change agent in the market, working on collaborative projects large and small with a variety of partners.
VCU Health is working with partners to allay health inequities in the city, including an alliance that began in summer 2019 with Feed More to distribute food boxes to people in need through outpatient and inpatient clinics. By December, 2,612 boxes had been distributed in outpatient settings, and 87 food boxes were provided at inpatient discharge. “We can’t do it alone,” Hancock says.
Yousuf says that health care providers need to figure out how to connect people with all the services they need, looking beyond immediate medical issues. He cites an example of a person who came in for care who also had a toothache, but there was nothing the physician could do until much later, after the tooth had become abscessed and septic.
The answer may lie in forming partnerships, he says, to avoid duplication of services and provide access — meeting needs and containing costs in the bargain. “Partnerships are going to continue to evolve and be key,” he says.
VCU Health and Sheltering Arms are collaborating on an inpatient rehabilitation facility that is set to open in the summer. (Image courtesy Sheltering Arms)
Facing Change
The market is healthy, but challenges loom, from politicians on one side touting universal health care to lawmakers on the other side advocating for the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act. There’s also the constant call for system administrators to deliver high-quality care while also being more efficient and cost-effective.
Behind-the-scenes factors affecting health care include negotiations with insurance companies over payments. Hamilton says medical providers are contending with shorter contracts that aren’t getting done until the last minute. “It’s an overall challenge,” he says.
Efforts to secure electric medical records and other sensitive data will entail continued investments in cybersecurity, and remote care via telemedicine is also expected to boom. Bon Secours’ Yousuf notes that South Virginia residents in need of advanced services will be able to access specialists in Richmond via telemedicine.
Virginia in 2018 accepted Medicaid expansion, which brought health insurance to 138,000 people, according to the website healthinsurance.org. Early screening and access to care before a condition becomes chronic or life-threatening “is only going to be beneficial,” Hamilton says. “I think there’s going to be an overarching benefit.”
A rendering of VCU's new outpatient hospital (Image courtesy VCU Health)
Health Care Insights
- Sentara Healthcare’s Optima Health Plan will become the majority owner of Virginia Premier in spring 2020.
- Bon Secours and VCU Health are jointly providing $425,000 annually to the GRTC Pulse rapid transit bus service until 2033.
- VCU Health's new adult outpatient hospital, a $371.5 million project, is targeted to open in spring 2021.
- Bon Secours and VCU Health are transforming part of the former Westhampton School property into a complex that will provide offices and outpatient pediatric care.
