Holy Cross gets recommendation for Montgomery hospital

Posted: 7:21 pm Fri, December 17, 2010
By Ben Mook
Daily Record Business Writer

A crucial recommendation from a state reviewer seems to have given Holy Cross Hospital the advantage over Adventist Health Care in the companies’ dueling bids to build a new hospital for Montgomery County.

The chairwoman of the Maryland Health Commission, Marilyn Moon, on Friday came out in favor of Holy Cross’ plan to build a 93-bed hospital on the Germantown campus of Montgomery General Hospital.

The commission will allow only one of the hospitals to be built.

“I recommend that Holy Cross Hospital of Silver Spring be awarded a Certificate of Need because I have concluded that its proposal for a new general acute care hospital in Germantown will supply upper Montgomery County with hospital bed capacity that the current and growing population of this region needs at a location that improves access to hospital services for the greatest number of people, at a reasonable cost,” Moon wrote.

Moon also recommended the full commission deny the application of Adventist for its proposed 86-bed general acute care hospital in Clarksburg.

“I have concluded that Adventist HealthCare’s priority over the next few years must be assuring the long-term viability of Washington Adventist Hospital,” Moon wrote. “This task, critical to restoring Adventist HealthCare to robust financial health, is large enough that it should not be put at risk by simultaneously attempting to establish a new hospital.”

Adventist officials on Friday, though, refused to throw in the towel and vowed to press for approval of its plan. The company called the Holy Cross proposal a “last minute” plan and said it bought the land for its site in 2001 and had already secured county approvals in addition to having a “solid” financing plan in place.

“I respect Dr. Moon and the role she plays in this process, but I am disappointed by her decision,” William G. “Bill” Robertson, president and CEO of Adventist HealthCare, said in a written statement. “Let me assure the community that this flawed recommendation does nothing to stop our resolve to make sure Montgomery County’s next hospital is in Clarksburg. We will urge the full Commission to study all of the relevant information in this case, which clearly shows that our vision is the strongest plan for the region and the only one that has the approval of the Montgomery County Planning Board.”

The commission is scheduled to meet and review the applications on Jan. 20.