Inova Looks Beyond Local Dominance

This is the sort of short-sighted approach to public investment and economic development we have come to expect from Virginia and its legislators.

Never mind that Northern Virginia, the engine of growth in the state, needs desperately to diversify out of government contracting.

Never mind that health services is the fastest-growing segment not only of the U.S. economy but also a global economy in which growing numbers of wealthy Asians, Latin Americans and Eastern Europeans will turn to American medicine when they are really sick.

And never mind that the National Institutes of Health and private foundations such as the Hughes Medical Institute are shifting millions of dollars in grant money to the kind of "translational research" that connects basic science with real-world cures -- research that is best conducted at respected hospitals like Inova with large patient populations and strong reputations for clinical care.

Indeed, this is such a good opportunity that Singleton is willing to consider having Inova go it alone by starting its own "boutique" medical school, much as Mayo and Cleveland Clinic have done. To my eye, it looks like a gamble worth taking, not just for Inova but for the region. And surely it would represent a better use of Singleton's talents, and Inova's considerable resources, than continuing to buy every hospital, clinic and laboratory between Arlington and Richmond.

Steven Pearlstein can be reached atpearlsteins@washpost.com.