The leader of an advocacy group for a new, independent Richmond children’s hospital said the group would file within five months an initial application for state approval — despite the current lack of interest in the project among the area’s three major hospital groups, Bon Secours, HCA and Virginia Commonwealth University.

Just a week after Mayor Dwight C. Jones trumpeted the hospital proposal, Katherine E. Busser, president and CEO of the Virginia Children’s Hospital Alliance, disclosed that “we have hired consultants to work with us” to prepare the needed documents, including a required letter of intent to develop the hospital.

The letter of intent, Ms. Busser said, is to be delivered to the state Health Department on or before Dec. 2. It would identify the owner and the proposed scope of the independent, freestanding hospital that Mayor Jones and supporters envision rising on city-owned property on the Boulevard that now includes The Diamond baseball stadium, Sports Backers Stadium and the school system’s Arthur Ashe Athletic Center.

The group then would have 30 days to provide other details, including information on financing. State regulations require all hospitals to apply for a certificate of public need before any development can begin. The state health commissioner has authority to accept or reject an application. The process can take six months to a year.

The proposed hospital has plenty of skeptics, including some on Richmond City Council, in part because the alliance has yet to identify a health care partner or hospital group that wants to be part of this effort. The alliance also has yet to demonstrate it has the money to move ahead if it wins state approval.

At this point, Ms. Busser said the alliance still wants to work with two of the area’s major hospital groups, Bon Secours and VCU, who earlier had expressed interest in participating in creating a hospital to offer coordinated and comprehensive care for children.

Many children who need specialty care for rare conditions now are sent to children’s facilities in other states, and the new hospital is seen as enabling treatment to be provided locally.

In May, both nonprofit hospital operators dropped out of the effort to develop a 100- to 175-bed facility devoted to children, citing the risks and costs considered likely to top $600 million for construction and operations. Both would have had to commit to give up children’s services in which each has substantial investments.

Ms. Busser indicated that talks are still ongoing with both, but declined to discuss their status. There have been talks with other hospital groups in other parts of Virginia and out of state to gauge interest, according to supporters with the alliance and its ally, PACKids, an organization of 400 or so children’s doctors and specialists in the Richmond area that launched the effort to create a new children’s hospital.

PACKids came into being in 2011, a year after the once independent Children’s Hospital of Richmond merged with VCU’s medical operations. Before the merger, VCU considered partnering with the Children’s Hospital to build a new hospital, but dropped the idea in 2007.

The alliance’s decision to move ahead with plans for the hospital bolsters the position of Mayor Jones in championing the project as an important and significant development for the city, though he has yet to indicate whether he would want city taxpayers to contribute.

Like other supporters, he believes the money can be raised to add to a $150 million gift that business and real estate magnate William Goodwin and his wife, Alice, have offered. The mayor’s chief of staff, Grant Neely, said that others are waiting in the wings to provide essential funding.

Mayor Jones announced his backing for the hospital July 17 after the alliance told the mayor that the city’s 61-acre site on the Boulevard is the top choice as the location for the proposed hospital. Given that prospect, the mayor stated he is seeking cooperation from Richmond’s minor league baseball team, the Flying Squirrels, and Henrico and Chesterfield counties to find a new stadium site so The Diamond eventually can be torn down to make way for the hospital and other developments.

The alliance, based at the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce, carries influence because of its apparent backing from the business community and its board of well-connected Richmond area lawyers, corporate executives, consultants and investment bankers.

The board includes Thomas N. Chewning, retired chief financial officer of Dominion Resources; Wallace B. Millner III, formerly head of Signet Bank, now part of Wells Fargo; Steven A. Markel, vice chairman of the Markel insurance and business conglomerate; and John W. Bates III, a partner at McGuireWoods law firm.

Marilyn H. West, a management consultant, and A. Hugh Ewing III and Palmer P. Parson, both investment bankers, also are on the board.

On Monday, Mayor Jones, the alliance and its partner, PACKids, hit a temporary roadblock when City Council members refused to rush through a resolution of support for the “establishment and construction” of the hospital, even though most members appear to support the concept.

On a 4-4 vote, council postponed a vote on the resolution that Mayor Jones and four council members had introduced that day until the council’s first meeting in September, giving it time to go through a committee hearing. Six votes were needed to set aside council rules requiring the resolution to first be heard by a committee.

The supporters included Council President Michelle R. Mosby, 9th District; Kathy C. Graziano, 4th District; Ellen F. Robertson, 6th District; and Cynthia I. Newbille, 7th District.

However, Charles R. Samuels, 2nd District, and Parker C. Agelasto, 5th District, were concerned the vote was being rushed before council had an opportunity to examine the proposal. Reva M. Trammell, 8th District, joined them in seeking more time and information.

“I just got the resolution at 10 a.m. this morning,” Mr. Samuels said, giving him too little time to consider the proposal.

“I see no reason that it should not go through the regular process,” Mr. Agelasto said.

Jonathan T. Baliles, 1st District, also complained about the rush and the lack of detail.

“I am not willing to hand Mayor Jones a blank check,” Mr. Baliles said, noting he wants council to have the time to learn more about the project and the potential costs.