Virginia's hospitals range from academic medical centers in Richmond and Charlottesville to small community hospitals in the coalfields of the far southwest. This page explains how that network is organized, who oversees it, and how to choose a facility before you need one. Our listings cover 80 cities and 67 county-level jurisdictions, so the background below will help you read them correctly.

Hospital care in Virginia sits under three layers of rules: state licensing, federal Medicare and emergency-care law, and local geography. A hospital in Fairfax County and one in Norton may follow the same regulations, yet they differ enormously in size, staffing and the distance patients travel. Understanding those differences saves time when someone is sick.

Who Licenses and Oversees Hospitals in Virginia

The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) licenses hospitals through its Office of Licensure and Certification. The legal framework sits in Title 32.1 of the Code of Virginia. The State Board of Health's hospital regulations set minimum standards for staffing, patient rights, infection control and the physical building. Inspectors review licensed facilities and investigate complaints. If you have a concern about care at a hospital, VDH is the state body that takes it.

Virginia licenses several types of facility under these rules. General hospitals, specialty hospitals and outpatient surgical hospitals all appear in the licensing system. That is why a same-day surgery site such as Hanover Outpatient Surgery Center on Lee Park Road in Mechanicsville can appear alongside full-service hospitals in a directory like this one.

The state also runs a Certificate of Public Need (COPN) program, administered by VDH. In general, a provider must get approval before opening certain new hospitals, adding beds or buying specified medical equipment. The idea is to match capacity to regional demand. It is one reason hospital capacity in a Virginia region is a planning question as well as a business decision.

Federal law adds another layer. Under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), any hospital with an emergency department that takes part in Medicare must screen and stabilize anyone who arrives with an emergency condition. Insurance status and ability to pay cannot change that duty.

State-run psychiatric hospitals work differently

The Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS) operates Virginia's state psychiatric hospitals. Two appear in our directory: Western State Hospital at 103 Valley Center Drive in Staunton, and Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute at 3302 Gallows Road in Falls Church. Admission is normally arranged through your local community services board, not by walking in. Private behavioral health facilities, such as The Pavilion at Williamsburg Place on Mooretown Road, set their own intake procedures, so call ahead.

Independent Cities and Counties: Reading Virginia Hospital Listings

Virginia is unusual because its cities are legally independent of any county. There are more than three dozen independent cities, including Richmond, Norfolk, Charlottesville, Newport News, Hampton and Roanoke. Our directory gives every jurisdiction a county-style page for navigation. You will therefore see labels such as City of Richmond County even though no such county exists in state law.

This matters when you search. The city of Richmond and Henrico County are separate jurisdictions, and both have major hospitals. Henrico Doctors' Hospital at 1602 Skipwith Road carries a Richmond mailing address but is filed under Henrico County. To see the whole Richmond area, browse both the City of Richmond County page and the Henrico County page.

The same caution applies to Franklin. Southampton Memorial Hospital, listed at PO Box 817, Franklin, serves the independent city of Franklin in the southeast. The directory groups it under a Franklin County page, but that should not be confused with Franklin County, the separate Blue Ridge county around Rocky Mount. Check the address and call before you travel.

Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, known as CHKD, at 601 Children's Lane is the pediatric hospital listed on the Norfolk County page. Families across Hampton Roads use it. In Charlottesville, UVA Transitional Care Hospital at 2965 Ivy Road is a long-term acute care facility, which is a different service from the emergency and surgical care offered at a general hospital.

Metro and Rural Hospital Access Across Virginia

Central Virginia has the deepest concentration of hospitals. Richmond-area care includes academic services at VCU Medical Center, HCA's Henrico Doctors' Hospital, and suburban sites such as Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center at 13710 Saint Francis Boulevard in Midlothian, in Chesterfield County. Specialty referrals from much of the state flow into this corridor.

Northern Virginia is dense and heavily traveled. Inova Fairfax Hospital at 3300 Gallows Road in Annandale is Inova's flagship campus in Fairfax County. Inova Alexandria Hospital on Seminary Road, Virginia Hospital Center Urgent Care at 601 South Carlin Springs Road in Arlington, and Novant Health Prince William Medical Center on Sudley Road in Manassas serve the inner and outer suburbs. Traffic on I-66, I-95 and the Beltway can double travel times, so the nearest emergency department often matters more than a favorite name.

Hampton Roads is divided by water, bridges and tunnels. Sentara Careplex Hospital at 3000 Coliseum Drive in Hampton, Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News and CHKD in Norfolk serve different sides of the harbor. McDonald Army Health Center at 576 Jefferson Avenue in Newport News is a military treatment facility for TRICARE beneficiaries. It is not an open-access community hospital.

Outside the big metros, regional hospitals anchor whole communities. Valley Health Winchester Medical Center at 1840 Amherst Street serves the northern Shenandoah Valley. Mary Washington Hospital at 1001 Sam Perry Boulevard serves Fredericksburg. Centra Lynchburg General Hospital at 1901 Tate Springs Road covers the Lynchburg area.

In the southwest, distances grow. Roanoke Memorial Hospital at 1906 Belleview Avenue Southeast is part of the Carilion system and is a major referral center for the region. New River Valley Medical Center at 2900 Tyler Road in Christiansburg sits in Montgomery County. Farther west, the Norton listing for Wellmont Health System reflects an area where a trip to a hospital can take a long time. The Wellmont name is now part of Ballad Health, formed in 2018 when Wellmont merged with Mountain States Health Alliance.

How to Find, Verify and Use a Hospital Listing in Virginia

Start with the need. For a life-threatening problem, call 911 and go to the closest emergency department. For a problem that is not life-threatening, an urgent care center or your primary care office is often faster and cheaper. For a poisoning, the national Poison Help line at 1-800-222-1222 connects you to the Virginia Poison Center at VCU. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988.

Then verify the listing. Hospitals merge, rebrand and move services, so confirm the basics by phone before you drive:

Bring a photo ID, your insurance card, a list of current medications and allergies, and your primary doctor's name. If you have Medicaid, the program is run by the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS), which expanded adult coverage in 2019. Ask the hospital's financial assistance office about charity care afterward. Nonprofit hospitals must have a written policy under federal rules.

Hospitals across Virginia provide a full range of medical services from emergency and trauma care to specialized treatment programs, with public and nonprofit facilities playing a particularly important role in serving uninsured and rural populations throughout the state.

Hospitals locations are available in 80 cities across Virginia. They are spread across 67 counties.

Cities with the highest concentration include Richmond, Norfolk, Charlottesville, which serve as major medical centers with academic teaching hospitals, trauma centers, and specialized treatment facilities for the surrounding region.

Residents of Virginia should know their nearest emergency room location before a medical crisis occurs, and should check their insurance network to understand which hospitals in the state are covered under their plan.

Hospitals by Counties

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Residents of Virginia who face large hospital bills should ask about financial assistance programs before the bill goes to collections. Most hospitals are required to notify patients about charity care options, and applications can often be submitted months after a visit.

Browse Hospitals by county across Virginia to find the nearest location.

Planning Ahead for Hospital Care Across Virginia

Most people look up a hospital only in a hurry. A few minutes of preparation changes that. Identify the emergency department closest to your home, your workplace and your children's school, and save each main number in your phone. Richmond-area families might store Henrico Doctors' Hospital at 804-289-4500. In Northern Virginia, Inova Fairfax Hospital is 703-776-4000. In Hampton, Sentara Careplex Hospital is 757-736-1000, and Roanoke Memorial Hospital is 540-981-7000. Use these switchboards for questions, never for emergencies.

Know your coverage before you need it. Check whether your plan is in network at the hospital you would likely use. Federal rules under the No Surprises Act, along with Virginia's own surprise-billing law, protect patients from many out-of-network bills for emergency care. Keep your insurance card and a medication list in your wallet or phone.

Geography and weather also matter in Virginia. Hampton Roads residents should know their evacuation routes during hurricane season, and tidal flooding can close roads near Norfolk. Mountain communities in the southwest and the Shenandoah Valley should expect winter road delays and plan extra travel time. If you care for an older relative, ask their doctor which hospital holds their records so that an ambulance crew can be told where to go.

The Virginia Department of Health licenses hospitals through its Office of Licensure and Certification. You can file a complaint about patient care, safety or hospital practices through the VDH website or by contacting the office directly. Include the hospital's name, the date of the incident and a clear description of what happened. VDH may investigate on site and will review the hospital's response. Complaints about an individual doctor or nurse go to the Department of Health Professions instead. Accredited hospitals also accept complaints through their accrediting body, such as The Joint Commission. Keep copies of your records and any letters.

Under federal law, any Medicare-participating hospital with an emergency department must give you a medical screening exam and stabilizing treatment, whether or not you can pay. Payment questions come afterward. Once you are stable, ask the billing office for the financial assistance application. Nonprofit hospitals must keep a written policy and make it public. You may also qualify for Medicaid through DMAS, which has covered more low-income adults since Virginia expanded eligibility in 2019. You can apply through Cover Virginia or the CommonHelp portal. Never skip emergency care because of cost.

Call or text 988 for crisis support, or call 911 if someone is in immediate danger. Every part of Virginia is served by a community services board (CSB), which provides emergency evaluations. If a person may be a danger to themselves or others, a magistrate can issue an emergency custody order, and a CSB evaluator then decides whether hospitalization is needed. A temporary detention order allows a short stay of up to 72 hours before a court hearing, with limited extensions for weekends and holidays. State hospitals such as Western State Hospital in Staunton and Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute in Falls Church are part of this system, and the CSB works to find an available bed.

Virginia's independent cities are not part of any county, which is unusual in the United States. To keep navigation consistent, our directory gives each of these cities a county-style page, so you will see names such as Norfolk County, Charlottesville County and Newport News County. These are directory labels, not legal counties. The hospitals are still in the city shown in each address. For example, UVA Transitional Care Hospital at 2965 Ivy Road is listed under Charlottesville, and McDonald Army Health Center at 576 Jefferson Avenue is listed under Newport News. Always rely on the street address and phone number.

Contact the hospital's health information management or medical records department. Call the main number first, such as 540-741-1100 for Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg, and ask how to submit a request. Most hospitals want a signed authorization and photo ID, and many also accept requests through a patient portal. HIPAA and Virginia's health records privacy law give you a right to access your records. Virginia law also sets response deadlines and limits on copying fees. If a hospital has merged or closed, its records remain with a successor or designated custodian, who can tell you how to proceed.

Enrolled veterans can use VA medical centers such as Richmond VA Medical Center, Hampton VA Medical Center and Salem VA Medical Center. Active-duty personnel and TRICARE beneficiaries in Hampton Roads can use McDonald Army Health Center at 576 Jefferson Avenue in Newport News, 757-314-7613, for outpatient care. Larger needs are usually referred to network hospitals. In a true emergency, go to the nearest emergency room. Veterans who receive private emergency care should notify the VA within 72 hours so that coverage can be considered. Call ahead to confirm eligibility and services.