OVERVIEW

According to Plan: The Next Loudoun County Hospital Belongs in Dulles South

We live in one of America’s fastest growing — and changing — counties. That’s why Loudoun County’s Board of Supervisors developed a comprehensive plan ensuring reasonable growth, sensible land use, preservation of our green spaces and convenient access to healthcare services for the next 20 years. The plan is the foundation for the Board of Supervisors’ decision-making on many issues, including where the next Loudoun County hospital should be built.

The Countywide Health Care Facilities plan looked at a number of factors — anticipated population growth, access and travel times to medical-care services, among others — to assess the county’s current and future healthcare needs. The plan concluded that Loudoun residents living in the Route 50/Dulles South area are underserved by current heathcare facilities. Accordingly, the plan calls for the Route 50/Dulles region to be given special consideration for the next full-service hospital and EMS ambulance-receiving facility in the county.

Soon, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors is expected to vote on a proposal to rezone Broadlands and develop a hospital in an existing residential community. The fact is, Broadlands is already well-served by a hospital 5 miles away, as well as by others in nearby Fairfax County. If this development is approved, the Board will in effect nullify an important element of Loudoun’s comprehensive plan. The Board would also approve a development that was previously denied by the Planning Commission and the Board itself on more than a dozen points of zoning law.