Bon Secours plan for ambulatory-care center in Chesterfield will create 100 jobs

Bon Secours is investing $30 million and bringing 100 new jobs to Chesterfield County, making for the largest economic-development announcement in the county this year.

The nonprofit Catholic health system said yesterday that it is building an ambulatory-care campus at the southwest corner of state Route 288 and Midlothian Turnpike at the Watkins Centre, about 4.5 miles from Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center.

The first phase of the project is scheduled for completion in the second half of 2011, said Kevin Barr, executive vice president for the ambulatory division for Bon Secours Virginia.

The first phase would consist of 100,000 square feet of space and include a freestanding emergency department; a diagnostic-imaging center; and offices for primary care, obstetrics and gynecology, and physician practices.

"We have had a very high level of interest from physician groups that want to be located there," Barr said.

The Watkins Centre has room for 2.5 million square feet of office space, 200,000 of which is developed, and 1.3 million square feet of retail space, 900,000 of which is developed at the Westchester Commons shopping center.

Bon Secours will assess the progress of the project's first phase before beginning the second phase, which still is in the planning stages, Barr said.

The second phase would include additional health-care services and physician office space for a total campus consisting of 200,000 square feet, he said.

"Bon Secours is always looking at development zones in the Richmond region, and it chose to expand at this site because of the concentration of economic-development activity there," Barr said.

Jobs will range from administrative staff to technicians and medical professionals. Physician groups or practices will do their own hiring, while Bon Secours will post jobs as they come available on its Web site.

Barr said he expects job interviews will take place three to four months before the opening in 2011.

Will Davis, Chesterfield's director of economic development, said the intersection at state Route 288 and Midlothian Turnpike is a strategic gateway for the county and the region.

The Bon Secours project is the second-largest development since Sabra Dipping Co., a food-products company, said last November that it was investing $59.3 million for a hummus manufacturing plant and hiring 260 people. The plant, in the Ruffin Mill Industrial Park off Interstate 95 in Chesterfield, is expected to open in mid-2010.

"We look forward to more announcements in the future," Davis said, declining to be more specific.

The Bon Secours health system, one of the area's largest private employers, is made up of four hospitals in the Richmond region: St. Mary's; Memorial Regional; Richmond Community Hospital; and St. Francis Medical Center. The Bon Secours Medical Group is made up of more than 40 physician practice groups.

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