Two rival health care systems are dueling for the right to serve northern Montgomery County residents, but the county’s top elected official says he’s staying out of the battle.
Adventist HealthCare officials have been planning a new 100-bed Clarksburg hospital for at least six years. They want a hospital, nursing home, medical office buildings and outpatient medical services to sit on 60 acres already zoned for hospital use west of Interstate 270.
“We purchased land there in 2001, and people encouraged us to work with developers and residents,” said Tom Grant, associate vice president of communications for Adventist HealthCare. “We thought it was a chance to grow with the community, and there’s easy access off Interstate 270. We’ve been working all along thinking this would be the best spot to put the new hospital in Montgomery County.”
Holy Cross Hospital executives think so too: In October they filed an application with the state to build a 93-bed hospital in Germantown, on the Montgomery College campus, just a few miles away.
“We’re anticipating the growth in this community,” Holy Cross Hospital spokeswoman Yolanda Gaskins said.
Gaskins says Adventist HealthCare has had plenty of time to make its move.
“They started this nine years ago,” Gaskins said. “Health care to a community is not something to stall on. You understand a need, and you go forward and make it happen.”
Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett is staying out of the mess.
“Of course we need more health resources, but this is really something the state needs to figure out,” Leggett spokesman Patrick Lacefield said. “They’re both great institutions and they can both do great things.”
Adventist HealthCare officials say they plan to file their building applications with the Maryland Health Care Commission, which approves hospital construction plans for the state, in early 2009. Though the state board could ultimately approve both projects, many local sources say it’s unlikely.
Montgomery County Councilman George Leventhal, who leads the council’s Health and Human Services Committee, thinks the county should have a voice in the decision. He pushed for money to study the situation, but said he was blocked by Leggett and other council members who didn’t want to get involved.
“What I have been frustrated by is Montgomery County does not appear to be mapping out its own goals and objectives in the public health interest of our residents,” Leventhal said. “I don’t think we should just stand back and let our public health care delivery system be determined by others. I think the county has an important role to play.”
