Sentara Princess Anne Hospital seeks to add 14 inpatient beds

Sentara Princess Anne Hospital in Virginia Beach is asking for state permission to add 14 medical/surgical inpatient beds.

The expansion requires the hospital to apply to the Virginia Department of Health for a Certificate of Public Need.

The $35 million project would involve a two-story vertical expansion on top of an existing patient tower.

Part of the resulting space will be reserved for future use. The hospital says economies of scale can be achieved in adding two floors now.

Prince Anne is a 70/30 partnership involving Sentara and Bon Secours Virginia Health System, respectively.

In keeping with that ratio, nine of the additional licensed beds will come from other Sentara hospitals while five will come from Bon Secours DePaul Medical Center in Norfolk.

Hospital officials say that from January through May of this year, Princess Anne had a medical/surgical occupancy rate of more than 88 percent. By comparison, the state’s recommended occupancy rate is 80 percent.

Adding observation patients and outpatients temporarily occupying inpatient beds, the rate climbs to more than 95 percent. That high rate could create access problems when patients are admitted, the hospital said.

Sentara Princess Anne Hospital opened in August 2011 with 160 licensed beds. The transferred beds will bring the hospital’s licensed bed total to 174.