Henrico supervisors approve permit for St. Mary’s expansion

Bon Secours Mercy Health‘s planned $370 million renovation and expansion of Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital in western Henrico County advanced Tuesday night, as the county’s board of supervisors approved a provisional use permit tied to the project.

The permit allows Bon Secours to build a structure exceeding 110 feet in height and allows it to relocate an existing accessory helipad.

The health system plans to break ground this summer on the expansion, which will include the addition of an eight-story, approximately 200,000-square-foot tower to the hospital, which lies close to the Richmond city line at 5801 Bremo Road. Work on the tower is expected to begin in the fall, with an estimated opening of late 2027 or early 2028.

While the tower is planned to be within the 110-foot by-right range, the permit was needed because the elevator shaft may extend up to 158 feet. The hospital also needed the permit to relocate the helipad, currently located in a parking lot, to the top of the tower.

A neighboring resident at a public hearing raised concerns about the impact of the relocated helipad on adjacent neighborhoods, fearing it may bring noise and safety issues.

But Bridget Fitzpatrick, chief operating officer at St. Mary’s, disputed that there would be negative impacts. The expansion won’t increase the number of beds at the hospital, which currently has 391 beds. For that reason, she doesn’t anticipate an increase in the number of helicopter landings at the hospital. She also said that having the helipad on the roof instead of the ground is likely to reduce noise, as the helicopters will be high in the air, rather than right on the ground near residential homes.

“One of the biggest opportunities and reasons that we want to put the helipad on top of the building is for overall safety, not only the safety of the patient who is being flown in for emergent reasons, so they can be dropped down immediately from the roof, down into our emergency department, into our ORs, or into our ICU, as well as our NICU,” Fitzpatrick said. “… But on the ground, another obstacle that comes into play is the transport of the patient from the helicopter into the emergency department — not only pedestrian but also traffic safety there.”

The renovations will make all patient rooms at St. Mary’s private for greater comfort and privacy. Today, the hospital has a mix of private and shared spaces.

The upgrades also include advanced medical technology with new procedural areas and operating rooms, expanded critical care services and increased capacity. Hospital president Bryan Lee previously said the expansion is meant to help the hospital serve a growing population and that the health system anticipates the market could grow as much as 5% over the next five years.

Bon Secours Mercy Health projects the expansion will create the need for 375 new positions. Currently, St. Mary’s Hospital has 2,500 employees.

Bon Secours operates four hospitals and one outpatient facility in Hampton Roads, and the Bon Secours Richmond Health System offers a network of seven acute hospitals, primary and specialty care practices, ambulatory care sites and continuing care facilities across a 24-locality region.