Sentara, Prince William Health System Competing for Northern Virginia Hospital | Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp

The population in Northern Virginia is expected to increase roughly 24 percent between 2009 and 2014. With this growth in residents comes an increased demand in medical services. This is why Sentara is competing with Prince William Health System to build a hospital in the Haymarket area of Prince William County, VA according to allbusiness.com.

The hospital would be near Interstate 66 (I-66) and U.S. 29 just a few miles away from the Prince William Health System’s Heathcote Health Center.

Sentara’s proposed health care facility would feature 60 beds and four operating rooms. Prince William Health Center’s proposal features 80 beds.

A new hospital will mean new doctors, nurses, and medical practitioners in Northern Virginia. This may mean an increase in doctor mistakes, surgical errors, and medical negligence. Every year, close to 200,000 people die due to preventable medical mistakes, according to medicalnewstoday.com. That number is probably underestimating the problem since many states are not legally required to report medical mistakes.

Here’s a video illustrating the consequences of medical mistakes…

98000reasons.org: Quanisha Scott from American Association for Justice on Vimeo.

This is an issue that needs to be addressed. Building a new hospital is great, but having patients suffer serious injuries or needlessly losing their life due to medical errors is completely unacceptable.