Bon Secours Mercy Health has started construction on an expansion at Mary Immaculate Hospital in Newport News worth more than $200 million, a move hospital and city leaders said will expand access to emergency and maternity care across the Peninsula.
The new four-story, 144,000 square-foot patient tower is expected to open in summer 2028. It will include a larger emergency department, expanded labor and delivery services, a neonatal intensive care unit, 14 ICU beds and 26 universal care beds that can adapt to different levels of patient needs.
Alan George, president of Bon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital, said the emergency department will double in size, growing from 15 rooms to 30.
“We’re seeing over 30,000 ER patients in those 15 rooms, which is very tight,” George said. “This will allow us to really expand all the way up to almost 60,000 ER patients.”
George said the new tower will also introduce updated patient technology systems designed to provide real-time information inside patient rooms, improving communication and efficiency for both patients and staff.
Electronic boards will display care plans, scheduled tests and staff information as nurses and doctors scan into rooms.
Patient rooms will also be about two-and-a-half times larger than existing rooms to allow more space for families and overnight stays.
The expansion comes as hospitals nationwide continue facing staffing shortages following the COVID-19 pandemic. George said the hospital expects to add workers as patient demand grows, though he said recruitment remains competitive.
Newport News Mayor Phillip Jones said the project is both a healthcare and economic development, noting that the city’s geography can make healthcare access difficult, especially during emergencies.
“We’re a banana-shaped city. The hardest thing is getting through the roads” Jones said. “This location is a prime location. We're going to be able to serve the entire peninsula.”
He said much of the Peninsula’s hospital infrastructure is concentrated farther south or closer to Hampton, including facilities operated by Sentara Health and Riverside Health systems.
“People are going to be able to access health care in a much quicker and more efficient way that is going to cut down on response time, and ultimately, it's going to save lives,” Jones said.
George, the hospital president, said most of the funding for the project came from the nonprofit health system itself, with additional fundraising planned through the Bon Secours Hampton Roads Foundation.
