Leaders celebrate road to recovery

STAFFORD — The afternoon sun baked the fresh pavement of Hospital Center Boulevard on Tuesday as members from the Stafford County Board of Supervisors, MediCorp Board of Trustees and media casually chatted away. The moment they were all waiting for was about to commence.

A year and $5 million in the making, the 3,540 ft. connection between Courthouse Road and Jefferson Davis Highway was to be opened to the public. At 12:02 p.m., camera lenses glinted their reflections of the sun’s rays while the modest ceremony began.

Shielded from the sun by a white tent, a small podium and microphone were utilized to explain the usage of the new stretch of road.

Most importantly, Hospital Center Boulevard will be another artery into the medical campus, allowing for a faster route for ambulances traveling along Courthouse Road as well as alleviating congestion along Jefferson Davis Highway. Other advantages of the project will directly affect Stafford County residents.

Residents will be able to enjoy a dedicated wetlands area of approximately 2.6 acres while also benefitting from the extension of water lines, storm water drainage lines, and other infrastructure to continue community expansion.

The Stafford Hospital Center has seen more than 11,000 patients since its opening and, as Cathy Yablonski, hospital administrator, stated, “We are ready for 11,000 or even 100,000 more.”

Following the induction of the new infrastructure was the ribbon cutting. In attendance were Stafford County Board of Supervisors members Paul Milde, R-Aquia and Bob Woodson, D-Griffis-Widewater; MediCorp Board of Trustees members John F. Fick, III, Jan C. Erkert, and MediCorp Health System President Fred M. Rankin, III.

All were invited to stand in front of a banner which read, “Stafford Hospital Center, MediCorp.” Once everyone was in place, buttons clicked and shutters whirred to capture the pivotal moment. After the brief photo shoot, Milde helped separate the Veclro-connected banner, thus officially opening the road for public use.

Milde described the boulevard as, “Not the proverbial road to recovery, but actually a road to recovery.”

Stafford County Fire and Rescue ambulance M-5 was the first vehicle to test the new road once the ribbon cutting festivities were complete. With lights flashing photos snapping, the ambulance slowly eased onto the boulevard. Workers were likely relieved that the new road could save time as well as lives.

With the ambulance christening Hospital Center Boulevard, the rite of passage was complete. Some dispersed while others remained to pick up their conversations where they had left off merely 15 minutes prior, and once again, the buzzing of words resumed as if the road had been there forever.

Dimas Pinzon is a contributing writer for the Stafford County Sun. Reach him at .