RICHMOND, Va. -- The Virginia Department of Health has approved a proposal by Bon Secours to establish a free-standing emergency center in Hanover County, and rejected a similar request by competitor HCA.

The decision gives Bon Secours the state’s blessing for its plans to set up an ER with imaging capabilities at 11400 North Lakeridge Parkway, which is just southeast of Ashland.

State Health Commissioner Karen Shelton’s approval of the Bon Secours project came alongside her rejection of HCA’s proposal for a similar facility that would have been built not far away at 10054 Sliding Hill Road.

Shelton’s decision on the proposals from the competing health systems follows her previous, recent rejection of HCA’s proposal to build a full-scale hospital on the Sliding Hill Road site.

In a prepared statement Friday, an HCA spokeswoman said the health system was unhappy with the state’s decision and didn’t share any details about what, if anything, HCA might now plan for the Sliding Hill Road site.