The new Southside Regional Medical Center building signals a vision for growth in the Tri-Cities, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said yesterday at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new hospital.

The facility, built on about 50 acres backing up to Interstate 95, will contribute to the state's promise for improving health care and will offer opportunity for the area to grow economically, Kaine said.

"There is great news for Petersburg and the Petersburg region happening now. . . . This is a community that is really undergoing economic renaissance."

Kaine said the hospital is an asset to the area, as will be the expansion of Fort Lee and the arrival of Rolls-Royce, which is building an aeroengine facility in Prince George County.

The new hospital will help meet the health-care demands posed by the area's growth, he said.

"This state-of-the-art health-care facility built right here in Petersburg will be great as an asset, as a hub of a network of health care at a time when we need to pay more and more attention to our health and our health-care system."

The governor said he is happy to see this type of development taking place, particularly because Southside Virginia has been one area of the state that has struggled to drive development.

-- Luz Lazo