Virginia lawmakers have again delayed a vote on a plan to close Hiram Davis Medical Center, a state-run long-term care and skilled nursing facility in Petersburg, citing concerns about where residents with some of the state’s most complex medical and behavioral needs would receive care.
The Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services has planned to close the facility since 2024. Under the proposal, the department would move residents to other facilities in the community. Those whose care needs exceeded the abilities of local providers would transition to the Southeastern Virginia Training Center in Chesapeake. Hiram Davis would be permanently closed by December 2027.
To stay on schedule, the commission needed an advisory vote from the Joint Commission on Health Care by late July. Instead, commission members last week postponed the vote and said they will send Gov. Abigail Spanberger a letter outlining their concerns. The letter will not include recommendations, Sen. Barbara Favola, D-Arlington and the chair of the commission, said during Wednesday’s meeting.
The commission postponed its vote in May, too, requesting the opportunity to tour the facility and allow for public comment at the next meeting. However, there was no public comment period at the July meeting.
Hiram Davis Medical Center is a 94-bed skilled nursing facility that serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, complex behavioral health conditions and significant medical needs. Many residents require around-the-clock nursing care and specialized medical services that can be difficult to replicate in community settings.
Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, said 22 patients are currently receiving care at the facility, down from 32 in May.
State officials argue that Hiram Davis is no longer a sustainable facility. Built more than 50 years ago, the building has aging infrastructure, outdated mechanical systems and ongoing maintenance problems, according to the department.
One major concern is the outdated HVAC system. As temperatures rise outdoors, so does the risk of emergency evacuation, Secretary of Health and Human Resources Marvin Figueroa said during the meeting.
“Whenever there is extreme heat, we get very nervous because it’s likely that we have to evacuate that facility,” Figueroa said. “And you can only imagine what it’s like to evacuate a high-acuity, highly complex population.”
Legionella bacteria was also detected in the facility’s water system between 2021 and 2024. The bacteria can cause Legionnaires’ disease, a severe form of pneumonia that poses the greatest risk to older adults and people with weakened immune systems.
While lawmakers acknowledged the building’s deteriorating condition, several expressed frustration with the process to close the facility, saying that they had not been presented with possible solutions before the department told them the facility was to close.
Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County, said during the meeting that when this issue has been presented to the commission, it has always been a question of how the facility would close — not whether it should be closed.
“The folks who are right there working with the individuals that need this intense care, they did not articulate to us that this [closure] is a good idea,” Suetterlein said.
He said families of long-term residents have also expressed concerns about the closure.
One of those family members is Martha Bryant of Amherst County.
Bryant’s son, Taylor, has lived at Hiram Davis since 2017. Born prematurely as one of triplets, Taylor has cerebral palsy, significant intellectual disabilities, three rare diseases, a tracheostomy to help him breathe and a gastrostomy tube for nutrition and medications, Bryant said.
Before moving to Hiram Davis, Taylor and his brother, Tyler, lived at Central Virginia Training Center in Lynchburg. Tyler died shortly after transferring to Hiram Davis.
State Sen. Chris Head, R-Botetourt County, who has worked in senior and long-term care for 25 years, said moving medically fragile patients can lead to serious health setbacks if not handled carefully.
“You’re always going to get a deterioration in the condition,” Head said. “If you do it wrong, you will accelerate their demise.”
Del. Cia Price, D-Newport News, said lawmakers also received conflicting information about whether Hiram Davis could remain open while undergoing renovations. Some experts have told the commission that the building could be renovated without having to relocate residents, while others have said that is not feasible.
“When we make a vote we have to be comfortable with the vote because if anything were to happen, we were the ones who gave you the go ahead,” Price said. “I am not at that point today.”
