Reston Hospital Center is just under the halfway point of its $72 million expansion — on track and on budget for completion by the end of next year.

The completed pieces of the project include renovations of the Women and Children’s Services unit and expansion of the neonatal intensive care unit, along with new paint, flooring and upgraded equipment, Erin Echelmeyer, a hospital spokeswoman, told Reston Now. The West Wing Lobby is also finished, with a revamped lobby area, gift shop, physicians’ lounge and office space, she said.

“It is progressing right along,” Echelmeyer said. “We are on target to complete this second phase of our master facility plan by the end of 2019.”

A breakdown of the pieces of the project still in progress is below:

• New 18-bed Inpatient Rehabilitation Center
• Expanded 24-bed Intensive Care Unit
• Addition of a second lab to the cardiac services unit
• Renovations to visitor areas including a new cafeteria, a glass concourse, and main entrance and lobby
• New parking garage for patients and visitors on the West Wing entrance
• Addition of eight rooms to accommodate high-risk obstetric patients

Construction on a new 403-space parking garage has already begun, which is expected to be done by the end of next summer. The Inpatient Rehabilitation Center is slated to open next month, followed by the Intensive Care Unit in January, Echelmeyer said.

The hospital reopened the emergency room entrance, after having patients enter through the hospital’s main entrance, she said, adding that the emergency room, level II trauma center and pediatric emergency room “are all fully function[al] and accessible from the emergency room entrance.”

This is not the first time the 187-bed hospital, which is part of Tennessee-based health giant HCA Holdings, Inc, has expanded. The hospital embarked on a $40 million expansion between 2012 and 2015, which included a 180,00-square-foot medical office and the addition of four operating rooms and 19 surgical recovery rooms in the surgical department.

The current expansion was announced in 2016, when the hospital hit its 30th anniversary. The phased project will add more than 63,000 square feet of new space to the facility.

Photos Courtesy of HCA Healthcare

The Virginia Department of Health has designated Reston Hospital Center (1850 Town Center Parkway) as a Level II Trauma Center, a move that makes the 187-bed facility one of 19 trauma centers in the state.

The center is the first to receive the designation in Northern Virginia in over a decade, allowing emergency responders to transfer patients for immediate trauma care when treatment is most effective.

In a release by RHC, Dr. Ranjit Pallurkat, medical director of the center’s trauma services, said the designation is a critical step to enhance the level of care the center provides.

“Expanding our services into a trauma program enables us to deliver a higher level of care to injured patients, close to their homes and families,” Pallurkat said.

In a release, John Deardorff, President and CEO of RHC said the designation is a “natural progression” for the center.

“With the rapid growth in Northern Virginia, it’s our job to ensure that Reston can provide the higher levels of necessary care in a more accessible manner for our EMS partners and our patients. Every minute counts, and our ability to provide this level of care – without transfer and close to home –  would not be possible without the partnership between our skilled medical staff and hospital employees.”

According to the Virginia Department of Health, a hospital’s designation is determined by several criteria. Level II centers have an organized trauma response and must provide definitive care regardless of the severity of the injury. On call staff are expected to promptly treat the patient. In some cases, centers must transfer complex cases to Level 1 centers. Treatment facilities with a Level I designation must provide the most comprehensive care.

The center’s surgical trauma team specializes in the following surgeries: trauma, vascular, thoracic, neurological, orthopedic, hand, plastic, maxillofacial, oral and more. The center is part of the HCA Virginia Health System, which operates 14 hospitals and more than 30 outpatient centers in the state.

Other Level II Trauma Centers in Virginia include Centra Lynchburg General Hospital, Chippenham Medical Center and Winchester Medical Center.