Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Work to begin on Lewis-Gale complex in Botetourt Co.
HCA Southwest Virginia is building an imaging center and doctors' offices in Daleville.
The latest from The Ticker blog
Crews will begin this week preparing the site of a new imaging center and medical office at the Daleville Town Center in Botetourt.
Construction of a $5 million building that will house the Lewis-Gale Imaging Center will then begin in May.
Lewis-Gale now expects its new imaging center to be completed in May 2011, more than two years later than planned. Lewis-Gale was granted state permission to operate a CT scanner in Daleville in 2007.
The delay was caused by a number of factors, including getting required permits, and more recently the snowy winter, said Nancy May, spokeswoman for HCA Southwest Virginia, which includes Lewis-Gale.
At the same time, Carilion Clinic is making changes to its Daleville operations. Carilion, which was also given state permission in 2007 to operate a CT scanner in Daleville, is expected to close on the purchase of property at The Orchard Marketplace at the end of the month. Carilion already has its CT up and running at its existing medical practice on Wesley Road.
Carilion's plan is to move the Wesley practice and the CT scanner to the Orchard Marketplace, Carilion spokesman Eric Earnhart said. State permission will be needed to move the CT.
With Orchard Marketplace located across the street from the Daleville Town Center, the two competitors will be even closer to each other.
Daleville Town Center developer Fralin & Waldron is building the nearly 20,000-square-foot building that will house the Lewis-Gale center and office space.
Lewis-Gale will not use the entire space, but will be an anchor for the town center, said Kathy Gentry with Fralin & Waldron. The hope is Lewis-Gale's presence will increase the need for medical services and offices in the center, she said.
The imaging center will take up 3,100 square feet and include equipment for CT, ultrasound and X-ray. The physician offices, which will house some specialists and primary care doctors, will be in a 5,000-square-foot part of the building.
Other tenants for the building have not yet been identified, Gentry said.
