Md. commission chooses Germantown for new hospital

A Maryland commission Thursday approved a proposal to construct a new hospital in Germantown over a competing plan in Clarksburg. The Maryland Health Care Commission favored Holy Cross Hospital’s plan to build a 93-bed general care hospital on the Germantown campus of Montgomery College, denying Adventist HealthCare’s bid to place an 86-bed hospital near I-270 in Clarksburg.

In essence, commissioners preferred to build a new hospital in an established community rather than years in advance of expected population growth in a more rural pocket of northern Montgomery County. Marilyn Moon, the commission's chairwoman, said the Holy Cross hospital “will improve access for the greatest number of people and deliver those services at a reasonable cost.”

But Bill Robertson, president and CEO of Adventist HealthCare, called the construction of a satellite hospital for Holy Cross’s existing Silver Spring site an “unnecessary duplication of existing services.” Women’s rights groups also blasted the selection of the Catholic organization, saying it would limit the reproductive options for area residents. SOURCE: http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/capital-land/2011/01/md-commission-chooses-germantown-new-hospital#ixzz1BbhfyQvH