Ft. Belvoir, Va. –– The hospital that will replace Ft. Belvoir’s aging Dewitt Army Community Hospital will be three times its size and will have the fourth largest pharmacy in the Department of Defense.
The new Ft. Belvoir Community Hospital on the Army base is nearing completion, and area business owners got a sneak peak of the new facility at a Mount Vernon – Lee Chamber of Commerce luncheon Thursday.
The hospital is being constructed as part of the military’s BRAC relocation, which is will to bring 20,000 military and federal jobs to the region by the fall.
The facility will boast more well more than 120 beds, a recovery center and x-ray facility.
It’ll also be more open, with large windows that allow more sunlight to pass into the building ultimately aiding in the healing process, said Col. Susan Annicell.
“In my 30 years in healthcare I have never seen the level of care and detail placed into a facility like this,” said Annicell, who will lead the staff at the new hospital.
The new hospital will be 1.3 million square foot larger than Dewitt, which will close once the new facility opens.
Hospital rooms will also be larger and more inviting, accommodating family members who want to stay overnight with patients.
The overall goal, explained Annicell, is to make the hospital and its surrounding campus a medical center by adding additional facilities like a 288-bed wounded warrior recovery center, and a 20-bed substance abuse recovery center.
Ft. Belvoir Community Hospital has also been designed to operate on a green scale, with its swooped roof doubling as a rainwater collector. Cisterns beneath the hospital collect the rainwater, process it, and then send it back to the surface where it will be used to water a series of gardens outside the facility.
