At what point do you stop being a vital, vibrant part of your community ?

At what point do you stop being a vital, vibrant part of your community--and become the County bully?

I've watched for over 6 monhs as Inova Hospital has spent millions upon millions of dollars to battle HCA from building Broadlands Regional Medical Center. The Center should be a much welcomed relief for a Loudoun population that is already overburdening Inova's hospital services ...compared to neighboring counties number comparisons. Beds per residents....

Not to mention that the competition brought by the addition of the second entity will level the playing feild, and should adjust charges by a lone institution with no comparable franchise. I think that competition is healthy, even in getting out the word to the people of the county. I do not expect Inova to sit on it's hands and allow this HCA proposal to go forward unanswered. But I do intend for Inova to keep it clean and go after public opinion on the up and up, with the purest of motives...survival and market share of the medical needs of the county.

Recently, Inova violated that trust with me, and arguably, with the people of the county. They hit below the belt in so many ways, it would take a rather lengthy column here to define the error of their ways in my eyes.

But the latest example of their overreach is unfolding, and to tell you the truth, I'm stunned by the arrogance, the audacity, and the underhandedness of it. As many in the west out here know, we've been waiting for Inova's satellite services in Lovettsville, Purcellville, and Middleburg for about 5 to 6 years..maybe longer.
Purcellville has gotten so far that the building is finished, and ready to fill.

What Inova did recently was address AT LEAST (There are probably a number of attack points that I haven't witnessed yet in these towns) the Ruritans in Purcellville, and as I hear it--told them in no uncertain terms that if they wanted the Inova center out on Hatcher, they'd better become vocal advocates for Inova (more to the point, they'd do well to speak out against the HCA Center in Broadlands.) or else, Inova won't be able to afford to fill these satellite offices.

I'm still waiting to see how pathetic this gets, because I've long since lost count of the money spent by Inova on full page advertisements in at LEAST 4 weekly publications, and a couple more that escaped me in other publications. They've given money to "Concerned" groups, and alot of other money has been infused into the anti-HCA agitprop that hasn't even all been accounted for yet.

If you go to the Public Input session on October 15th at EagleRidge Middle School, you'd best be prepared to see the Mayors of Lovettsville, Purcellville and Middleburg testify that they think HCA coming to Loudoun is absolutely horrid. Just understand when you see them speak that it appears from my view that Inova finally decided to resort to extortion and these three Mayors fell for it hook, line and sinker.

BRING HCA's BROADLANDS REGIONAL MED. CENTER (and the $3.5 to $4 MIL a year in commercial taxes) TO LOUDOUN NOW!! It is overdue.

Update: Broadlands Residents for BRMC has started a website. This group is not funded by HCA, whereas Concerned Citizens of Broadlands is financed in large part by INOVA. INOVA publicly acknowledged giving the group money, so this is not news.
That this Resident's Group is paying their own freight tends to give me a better window into the unbiased truth over there.

http://broadlandsforbrmc.com/index.html

And for more facts that make quite a bit of sense, go here:

http://broadlandsforbrmc.com/myth.html

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