Inova Health Care Services has submitted a Special Exception Amendment application for the approval of two additions to Inova Mount Vernon Hospital and the rearrangement of some parking, according to a Board Matter submitted Monday to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors by Mount Vernon District Supervisor Gerald Hyland.

“These changes, if approved, would contribute significantly to the continued vitality of Mount Vernon Hospital, which is, as you know, critically important to the provision of health care services in southeast Fairfax County. This application needs to move through the review process as quickly as possible,” Hyland told the Board of Supervisors.

In order to accomplish this, Hyland made the following requests:

* The board direct county staff to review the application on an expedited basis and do the same in scheduling public hearings before the planning commission and Board of Supervisors.

* That county staff process the site and building plans for the expansion “concurrently with the Special Exception Amendment application.”

* That the board consent to the filing of a Special Exception Amendment by Inova Health Care Services for the property involved. As noted by Hyland, the board owns the land occupied by the hospital which is leased to Inova.

According to their application justification, Inova plans to construct two small additions to the west side of the hospital as part of “a first floor renovation plan.” These will total 5,000 square feet.

“As a result of these additions, imaging services will be expanded, the emergency department will be enhanced, patient privacy and comfort will be improved in several departments, and a separate entrance for outpatients will be provided,” according to Inova.

A revised parking lot expansion plan locates spaces closer to the hospital’s entrances and increases the overall number of spaces by 50. The two single story additions will be compatible with the present hospital design, according to Inova.