On Monday, Inova Health System senior leaders, elected officials, government representatives and generous donors gathered to lay the building blocks on a $400 million building that will house Inova Women’s Hospital and Inova Children’s Hospital.

The 665,000-square-foot, 12-story space will house both the women’s and children’s hospitals and will be the second phase of the Fairfax Medical Campus expansion project.

“Today we are one step closer to achieving Vision 2015, and reinventing the way we deliver care in our hospitals,” said Knox Singleton, CEO of Inova Health System.

The Inova Women’s Hospital will include 192 private rooms, eight women’s operating rooms, six Cesarean-section operating rooms and will be connected to the new patient tower. The Inova Children’s Hospital will feature an expanded 108-bed NICU to care for smaller babies, the region’s only pediatric intensive care unit and all-private children’s rooms.

“These state-of-the-art facilities will enable Inova to continue to excel in caring for Virginia’s women and children,” said Maureen McDonnell, first lady of Virginia and keynote speaker for the groundbreaking ceremony. “The new hospitals truly are a testament to Inova’s commitment to the future of the region’s health.”

The first phase of the expansion project is the 11-story medical/surgical South Patient Tower, which will open in January 2013. The cost for the complete expansion project is $621 million according to Joanna Fazio, the marketing and public relations manager for Inova Fairfax Hospital.

Fazio said Inova Women’s Hospital and Inova Children’s Hospital are scheduled to open in January 2016.