Construction Under Way at Inova Mount Vernon Hospital

Construction crews are busy installing infrastructure for two new general operating rooms as part of a $43.6 million expansion at .

Last year, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the expansion. Inova Mount Vernon has subsequently received approval from state regulators.

The expansion includes a new medical surgical patient tower and the two operating rooms. The operating rooms will largely be used for joint replacement services.

The construction is to be carried out in multiple phases. In June, the hospital will hold a formal groundbreaking on construction of the new tower, which will include three additional patient floors atop an existing two-story structure.

In all, the expansion will add more than 65,000 square feet of newly built or remodeled space for medical, surgical, orthopedic, joint replacement and rehabilitation care. It will also include 60 new private rooms, and existing shared rooms will be remodeled into private rooms, keeping the total number of beds at 267.

Inova Mount Vernon spokeswoman Rita Wakefield said the hospital was responding to patient demand by expanding the number of private rooms.

“I think it’s the way the community feels now,” she said. “As I, myself, am a baby boomer, and I don’t want to be in a room with someone else especially if I’m sick.”

The hospital will hold an official groundbreaking on the new tower June 15, with that construction beginning in July or August, Wakefield said.

Because the hospital system does not plan to increase the number of overall beds, representatives have said the expansion will also not cause a major increase in traffic on local roads. The expansion is expected to take three years to complete.

The hospital's master plan includes additional construction in the future, after the current phase is completed.