Sentara Healthcare breaks ground on second medical building in North Suffolk

Construction has begun on a second medical office building on the Sentara BelleHarbour campus in Suffolk.

Officials from Sentara Healthcare, based in Norfolk, and Sentara BelleHarbour held a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday, May 2, on the $34 million, 85,000-square-foot building.

It will offer an ambulatory surgery center with two operating rooms, an expanded emergency department, 14 observation beds for emergency and surgery patients, new medical office space and a helipad.. The project should be completed in early 2019.

“At 420 square miles, it can take quite a while to drive from one corner of Suffolk to another,” Steve Julian, president of Sentara Obici Hospital in Suffolk and the Sentara BelleHarbour campus, said in a statement.
“With that reality, Sentara set out to bring our services closer to home for people in North Suffolk. “

The new four-story building will be positioned on what is now a surface parking lot in front of the current three-story building, which opened in 2008. The two buildings will be connected and replacement surface parking will be added.

Sentara BelleHarbour currently includes a 24-hour, ambulance-accessible, emergency department staffed by the same emergency physicians who serve Sentara hospitals. The expansion calls for the emergency department to grow from 17 beds to 23 or 24.

The current campus also offers advanced imaging including MRI and CT scanning, a breast center with 3-D mammography, family and occupational medicine, a certified sleep center, and a community room for health education programs. and group meetings.

A master plan for Sentara BelleHarbour includes long-term potential for up to four medical office buildings, an urgent care center and a parking deck, depending on population growth and demand for services in the area.