BY JIM HALL

Construction of the Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center will begin on or about April 1.

Jim Thweatt, project manager for the new hospital, told the Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors last night that land clearing has finished and that a general contractor has been chosen to start construction. Grading of the land is about to start, he said.

HCA, a Nashville-based, for-profit hospital chain, is building the hospital on a 75-acre site at the intersection of U.S. 17 and Interstate 95 in the Massaponax area.

The 126-bed hospital is expected to open in late 2009. A ceremonial ground-breaking will be held April 23.

RJ Griffin and Co. has been named general contractor for the project. Griffin has offices in Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville and Orlando. It is a subsidiary of the JE Dunn Construction Group.

The Spotsylvania hospital has been designed to reflect the area's history, said Mark Faust, an HCA spokesman.

"It's not a real contemporary building. It's more traditional, a little bit more conservative," Faust said.

Supervisor Hap Connors thanked the HCA representatives for working diligently on the project.

"This has been a very positive experience so far, and I look forward to continuing that experience going forward," Connors said.

HCA operates 170 hospitals and 113 outpatient centers nationwide. In Virginia, it has 10 hospitals and nine outpatient centers.

Its Spotsylvania hospital is one of two new hospitals in the region. MediCorp Health System, the parent company of Mary Washington Hospital, is building the Stafford Hospital Center near the county courthouse.

Groundbreaking for the 100-bed Stafford hospital occurred in October 2006. The opening is planned for March 2009.

Jim Hall: 540/374-5433
Email: jhall@freelancestar.com