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Holy Cross Hospital has proposed a way for the state to review its plan for a hospital in Germantown at the same time it considers Adventist HealthCare's proposed hospital in Clarksburg.

The projects are currently on different review tracks.

Holy Cross filed a letter of intent for its hospital, the first step in securing state approval, with the Maryland Health Care Commission in August. It applied for a certificate of need in October.

A hospital cannot be built in Maryland without receiving a certificate of need from the commission.

Adventist, which has been planning to build a hospital for several years, filed its letter of intent at the next opportunity in February, putting it on a different review track. It filed its application April 10.

The state is unlikely to approve two hospitals in the upcounty.

"This proposal is a path or a way to carry out a comparative review and get it into the administrative process in a way that's fair," Roseanne Pajka, senior vice president of corporate development for Holy Cross, said.

Under current law, the commission cannot begin reviewing Adventist's application until a decision has been made on the Holy Cross hospital. State lawmakers considered a bill during the legislative session that would have compelled the commission to review the two projects simultaneously, but it stalled in committee due to concerns about Adventist being able to view proprietary information in Holy Cross' application before submitting its own. Commission officials said they would review their procedures to prevent similar problems in the future.

In a letter sent to the commission Monday along with its response to comments Adventist made about Holy Cross' application, Holy Cross proposes that its application be placed on hold until the commission finishes reviewing Adventist's application for completeness.

Holy Cross' application would be reviewed at the same time as Adventist's application, and procedural rules would apply as if it had always been a comparative review, including giving both parties 45 days to modify their applications, according to the letter.

Holy Cross' application was placed on the docket, the first step of the formal review process, Jan. 30. Adventist's application has not been placed on the docket. Holy Cross has proposed removing its application from the docket until Adventist's application is placed on the docket so that they can be reviewed at the same time.

Adventist is in favor of a comparative review but needs to look into the specifics of the proposal, Thomas Grant, associate vice president of communications for Adventist, said.

The commission will review Holy Cross' proposal after it receives comments from Adventist, according to Pamela Barclay, director of the commission's Center for Hospital Services.