VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WVEC) -- A 14-bed expansion is being planned for Sentara Princess Anne Hospital in Virginia Beach, hospital officials say.
The hospital has applied to the Virginia Department of Health for a Certificate of Public Need to add the new medical/surgical inpatient beds.
The project calls for a two-story vertical expansion on top of an existing patient tower and is expected to cost $35 million. Part of the additional space created will be saved for future use that has yet to be determined.
Hospital officials say from January to May of 2016, the hospital had a medical/surgical occupancy rate of more than 88 percent, which exceeds the state's recommended occupancy rate of 80 percent.
In keeping with the 70/30 partnership between Sentara and Bon Secours, nine licensed beds will come from other Sentara hospitals and five from Bon Secours DePaul Medical Center in Norfolk.
The additional beds will bring the total to 174.
