Virginia Physicians for Women planning new office next to St. Francis hospital – Richmond BizSense

Having outgrown its current office space on the St. Francis Medical Center campus, a women’s health practice is expanding its presence there with a new-construction building.

Virginia Physicians for Women is planning to build an 18,000-square-foot office at 13801 Bon Secours Drive, which is close to the St. Francis hospital in the Brandermill area of Chesterfield.

The planned office will be a new, larger home for VPFW in western Chesterfield. The practice plans to depart its current leased location in suite 150 of the St. Francis Medical Pavilion at 13801 St. Francis Blvd. to relocate to the upcoming building.

VPFW CEO Ronnie Milligan said the current location is too small to keep up with demand the organization has at that office, saying it is seeing 2,000 patients a month. The current office has room for six physicians to work there at one time, while the new building would be large enough for up to 10 physicians.

“We have experienced tremendous growth there; no surprise with the amount of (residential development) growth in that area,” Milligan said. “We don’t have any more room.”

The new office will also have room for additional equipment compared to the current St. Francis outpost, including an increase in its number of mammography and ultrasound machines. The new office is expected to have 28 exam rooms.

The project is anticipated to cost $12 million to $14 million, a figure that’s inclusive of construction, equipment and land acquisition costs, Milligan said.

The new project would rise on nearly 4 acres that the practice has under contract. The project site will be carved out of a larger 7.3-acre parcel owned by the nonprofit Commonwealth Foundation for Cancer Research. The deal is expected to close in June. The overall parcel was most recently assessed at $2.2 million, according to online land records.

Virginia Physicians for Women recently filed a site plan for the project with Chesterfield County, and anticipates it will break ground on the project in spring 2025. The office is scheduled to open in fall 2026.

NAI Dominion is the project developer. PSH+ was tapped to handle the design of the project. Milligan said last week they haven’t finalized an agreement with a general contractor for the project.

A site plan of the planned Virginia Physicians for Women office to be built near St. Francis Medical Center. (Courtesy Chesterfield County)

Milligan said his organization is also currently on the hunt to acquire land in Henrico’s West End for a new office. The group now has six locations in the greater Richmond region, including outposts at West Creek Medical Park in Short Pump, Puddledock Medical Center in Prince George, the campuses of St. Mary’s and Henrico Doctors’ hospitals and a headquarters in Midlothian. The practice currently has 40 physicians and three nurse practitioners.

The new office near St. Francis is slated to rise next door to an upcoming Bon Secours outpatient surgery center. The health system’s planned surgical facility would be built on an undeveloped parcel at 13701 Bon Secours Drive.

That project received its Certificate of Public Need approval from the state health commissioner in December. The center is expected to cost $17.5 million and construction is expected to be completed by July 2026, per state documents.