Though a distinctive clock tower added over a decade ago to hide a cell tower still looms in the background, the northwest corner of Arlington Blvd (Route 50) and Graham Road in West Falls Church otherwise looks very different now than it did at this time last year.
In place of the old Graham Center retail strip, demolished last fall, has emerged the skeleton of VHC Health’s upcoming combined emergency and urgent care center, which officials say will be the first facility of its kind in Virginia.
VHC Health, Intuitive Health and Fairfax County leaders commemorated the progress on the center’s construction yesterday (Monday) by ceremonially signing a metal beam that will be installed as part of the building’s structure.
“It’s coming together very nicely behind us, and with this signing, [it’s a] huge milestone,” VHC Health Vice President of Construction and Facilities Rich Krumenacker said after the brief ceremony, noting that construction is on track to finish in the first quarter of 2027. “… Exciting times.”
Expected to open in the second quarter of next year, which would be between April and June, the hybrid emergency room and urgent care center has been in the works since 2019, when Intuitive Health CEO Thom Herrnann first met VHC Health Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer John Zabrowski.
Based in Plano, Texas, Intuitive Health was founded in 2008 by Dr. Jay Woody and other emergency physicians who proposed delivering emergency and urgent care services in the same location to ensure patients receive the help they need without imposing unnecessary costs on them or hospitals.
According to Herrnann, about one third of patients who visit ERs in the U.S. “don’t need to be there” and could have their medical concerns addressed at a less intensive urgent care clinic.
“We want to provide the right care at the right price,” he said.
When he was introduced to Zabrowski, Herrnann says they discussed the state of the health care market and agreed “there weren’t enough access points” in Northern Virginia, raising the question of whether the region might be a good fit for Intuitive Health’s hybrid model.
At that time, the company had partnered with health systems to open centers in five states. Now, its network has grown to more than 20 partners around the U.S. with over 100 sites in development.
As health care costs have skyrocketed, with spending exceeding $5.2 trillion in 2024, Intuitive Health has seen increased interest in its unique model, Herrnann told FFXnow.
“As there’s been more of a push towards value-based care, making sure that patients have affordability and access, our model really does fit the bill and provide those things in a way that is economical to the patient, reduces overall costs, and it works perfectly with health system partners that are thinking in that direction,” Herrnann said.
Approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in October 2024, VHC and Intuitive Health’s approximately 24,000-square-foot facility at 7234 Arlington Blvd in West Falls Church will house a joint emergency room/urgent care center with an on-site laboratory and 24/7 radiology services, including x-rays, ultrasounds and a CT scanner.
As part of the project, VHC agreed to provide some improvements to the pedestrian experience, including additional street trees, new sidewalks and crosswalks, a pedestrian refuge on Graham Road, a reconfiguration limiting vehicle access to the site from Graham Road to one entry point, and an 8-foot-wide shared-use path in place of the existing service drive along Arlington Blvd.
Fairfax County conducted a walkability study funded by the Virginia Department of Health in 2020 that confirmed the area had issues, according to Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik, who represents part of West Falls Church.
The Virginia Department of Transportation then had a study of its own that identified options for making that section of the Route 50 corridor safer for pedestrians. However, the study didn’t commit any funding to its recommendations, anticipating instead that they would be implemented in conjunction with future development.
Palchik says priorities included reducing the vehicular access points on Graham Road, enhancing the sidewalk network and turning the asphalt service road into a trail, making it more comfortable for pedestrians to reach the site.
“The main vehicle road behind this building, which was in horrific shape for many years, has already been improved,” Palchik noted. “Even though there are still tight turns, safety is the number one goal, and so, this development is bringing not just the trail, but safer access for everyone — cars and pedestrians and cyclists — in this very tight, very walkable community.”
Increasing accessibility has also been a top concern for VHC Health, which has focused recently on providing more convenient services in the community instead of expecting all patients to travel to its main campus in Arlington. Over the past few years, the organization has expanded its Fairfax County presence with more primary care offices, along with a new women’s center and other services in Tysons.
“Our patient population has grown substantially, and as a result of that, we need to grow with our communities,” VHC Health Vice President of Real Estate Development Adrian Stanton said. “That means bringing care outside of just the Arlington campus. So, that’s Falls Church. That is down in [the] Alexandria/Kingstowne area. It’s going west out into Vienna and further out along the byways … into Herndon.”
When planning the region’s first hybrid ER/urgent care center, West Falls Church made sense as a location for VHC Health, because it’s central for the communities the hospital serves, Stanton said. Krumenacker added that it also sees plenty of vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
According to both VHC Health and Intuitive Health officials, they have had discussions about expanding the hybrid concept to additional locations in Northern Virginia, though specific sites remain to be determined.
“Right now, just in the planning stages, we would like to do three to four of these,” Stanton said. “Obviously, we want to get this up and operational and just make sure the concept works, but the plan and the commitment by our board is to do additional ones.”
Preparations for the West Falls Church facility’s construction weren’t entirely without friction. Replacing a shopping center that had been around since 1953, the project forced several small businesses to close or relocate.
But Palchik expressed appreciation for VHC Health’s efforts to reach out to and work with the surrounding community, noting the health system met the next-door property owners early on and included Spanish interpreters at its public meetings.
“While change is never easy, they have been very flexible in ensuring that there continues to be access as the project comes along,” she said. “So, I think everyone on this has been an excellent partner in ensuring both the process and the outcomes are the best they could be.”
