Henrico Doctors’ is adding an office building

Virginia Cardiovascular Specialists was scrambling yesterday to get ready for its opening Monday in the Forest Medical Plaza.

"We will be busy over the weekend," said Ann Honeycutt, executive director of the practice.

Forest Medical Plaza is part of an expansion at Henrico Doctors' Hospital off Forest Avenue in Henrico County.

"This is the first part of a major renovation and facelift for the campus," hospital spokeswoman Karen Nelson said.

Groundbreaking for the next phase of the $80 million project will be in June, Nelson said.

The expansion will allow the 340-room hospital to convert semi-private rooms into private rooms, she said.

An outpatient surgery center will open early next year in a separate building and a high-tech magnetic resonance imaging machine will be added in the main hospital. In the fall of 2010, a new emergency room and heart center will open.

The last part of the expansion is scheduled for completion in late 2010 and early 2011 with a new outpatient center, laboratories and pre-admission testing areas.

Patrick Farrell, chief executive officer of Henrico Doctors', said the expansion will allow the hospital to respond to the growth of the community and better serve its patients.

Forest Medical Plaza, at 7611 Forest Ave. on the hospital campus, is 70 percent leased, said Lewis Stoneburner Jr., an associate with CB Richard Ellis, which is leasing and managing the building.

"We expect to be 90 percent leased in the next three or four months," he said.

Construction on the office building started a year ago.

Other tenants will be Virginia Women's Center, HCA Ambulatory Surgery Center and the Virginia Institute of Plastic Surgery. The space for the surgery center will be completed over the next 30 days.

Virginia Cardiovascular Specialists is consolidating three of its nine locations into this one, vacating space at Reynolds Crossings in the Virginia Cancer Institute building and the Highlands II building in Henrico.

"We outgrew the space," Honeycutt said.

The practice will move a clinic at Henrico Doctors' into the office building next weekend. It will keep its other six locations in the Richmond area and Tappahannock.

Henrico Doctors' Hospital is owned by Nashville-based HCA, which operates six hospital campuses with about 1,672 beds in the Richmond area.

Contact Carol Hazard at (804) 775-8023 or .