Hundreds of health care jobs are on the horizon as two companies in Virginia vie for state approval to build a new hospital. Sentara Healthcare and the Prince William Health System have both filed applications for a certificate of public need to build hospitals in the underserved area of Gainesville and Haymarket, The Washington Post reported. The Prince William Health System, which merged with Novant Health last year, plans to build an 80-bed hospital, which would create about 400 jobs when it opens in January 2015, the report said. Meanwhile, Sentara Healthcare will build a 60-bed hospital, which would be completed by summer 2014 and would create about 350 jobs, said Ken Krakaur, senior vice president of Sentara Healthcare. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, demand for health care jobs will increase in the next decade with the growing number of old people in the country. Nursing careers, one of the professions in the highest demand, will grow 22% through 2018 largely because of increasing emphasis on preventive care and technological advances in patient care, the bureau reported.  |