What’s Next for Virginia Baptist Hospital?

For more than a century, Virginia Baptist Hospital has been a Lynchburg landmark — a place where generations were born, trained as nurses and built careers in health care. Now, Centra’s modernization plan will phase services out of the Rivermont campus by 2028, leaving the historic 30-acre property empty and the community asking: What comes next?Host Dutchie Jessee talks with Lynchburg reporter Emma Malinak about the hospital’s deep roots, its Georgian architecture in the Rivermont Historic District and the logistical challenges of practicing 21st-century medicine in a 100-year-old building. They explore the preservation rules, the redevelopment possibilities — from housing to retail to community space — and why local voices will shape the future of one of Lynchburg’s most meaningful touchstones.