Bon Secours to begin construction on $370 million expansion project this summer

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- Bon Secours St. Mary's Hospital is gearing up for one of its largest projects ever. 8News stopped by the major healthcare center to hear more about their planned new tower and renovations in the works.

"We've got great talents at St. Mary's and now we need to have the infrastructure to match the talents of our people," said Bon Secours St. Mary's Hospital's President Bryan Lee in a one-on-one interview Tuesday afternoon.

The Western Henrico facility, which has stood proudly in the community since 1966, is adding 200,000 square feet worth of space in what has temporarily been referred to as their new critical care tower.

Lee told 8News that, as the state's only faith-based health system, Bon Secours aims to ensure the project helps fulfill its mission.

"As I think about this critical care tower and what it means, not only in terms of our care delivery," Lee said. "At the center of [the vision] is our mission statement of providing good help to those in need."

A large part of accomplishing that goal means expanding the community's access to vital care. According to Lee, current ICU bed occupancy is over 80%. The new tower will increase that critical care capacity about two times.

"We're currently licensed for 391 beds," Lee explained. "That licensed bed count is not changing, but what we are doing is we're privatizing all of our rooms, which will allow us to create new critical care beds as well as better use the current mix of medical surge beds that we have."

Lee told 8News that, in addition to new labs and surgical services, the $370 million project will expand critical care for their NICU, Neuro and Cardio ICUs.

Lee added that the community's population is projected to grow by as much as 5% over the next five years -- with critical care service demand expected to skyrocket upwards of 10%. That's part of why he said expansion — and looking to the future — is so important.

"Within this eight-story tower, two of the floors are going to be shelled space so that we can grow into the future," Lee remarked. "So whether that is building new ICUs or building specialty units, those two floors will allow for future growth."

While the critical care tower is a focal point for the new endeavor, 90,000 square feet of the existing campus will undergo renovations and improvements. This includes, but is not limited to, aesthetic changes and entryway enhancements.

"[Bon Secours is] really enhancing our procedural platforms with the new modern state-of-the-art technology that our patients and our community deserve," Lee said.

Construction is set to begin in the summer of 2025. The tower is estimated to be complete around the end of 2027. Renovations to the existing building will occur afterward, around 2028.