At the start of the state hearings on whether Washington Adventist Hospital’s proposed move seven miles north outside the Capital Beltway is justified, opponents said the relocation would hurt its patients living in the Langly Park/Hyattsville area who would have farther to travel. But one of this region’s biggest champions for minority populations supports the relocation.
CASA de Maryland did not submit testimony to the Maryland Health Care Commission in support of Adventist’s move but the activist nonprofit held a press conference in May saying that a new campus and a state-of-the-art facility “are an important and needed benefit for those who we serve.”
State Del. Michael Summers, D-Prince George’s, also trumpeted the relocation, calling it “an extraordinary opportunity to bring about affordable and accessible health care to address some of the disparities within our community…”
The Health Care Commission is holding hearings this week on whether to grant Adventist’s Certificate of Need to move. Its new location off Cherry Hill Road between White Oak and Calverton is expected to be a centerpiece of Montgomery’s planned East County Science Center.
