Holy Cross: Keep Washington Adventist inside Beltway

Hospital’s move from Takoma Park would ‘overwhelm’ Silver Spring facility, official says

Holy Cross understands Washington Adventist’s need to expand and is not opposed to a move, only to the location, Cahill told the East County Citizens Advisory Board on Sept. 5. Holy Cross, a 425-bed hospital on Forest Glen Road in Silver Spring, would prefer that Washington Adventist stay inside the Beltway, Cahill said.

Earlier this year, Adventist HealthCare, which operates Washington Adventist Hospital, purchased nearly 49 acres for a new facility in the Calverton-White Oak area of Silver Spring, six miles north of its current location.

Washington Adventist’s move out of the densely populated residential area on Carroll Avenue in Takoma Park would only increase Holy Cross’ burden, Cahill said. Last month, Holy Cross announced it needed to add at least 100 rooms to meet current patient demands — even after expanding in 2005. Washington Adventist is currently licensed for 289 beds, said Lydia Parris, a hospital spokeswoman, on Monday.

Now, the two hospitals combine for 54 percent of in-patient discharges in Montgomery County and see nearly 120,000 emergency room patients each year, Cahill said.

Leaving medical facilities in Takoma Park based on community input, as Washington Adventist has said it would do if it moves, would not replace a full-service hospital, Cahill added. A patient at a clinic with chest pains, for example, would still need to be taken by ambulance to a hospital, she said.

But some board members questioned Cahill’s argument, saying the new hospital, to be located off Cherry Hill Road, would actually ease Holy Cross’ overcrowding because potential eastern Montgomery County patients would have a hospital closer to home.

In a presentation to the board in May, Washington Adventist President Jere Stocks said 60 percent of the hospital’s patients would live within six miles of the new location.

‘‘I don’t see a negative for it being built out here. There is space for it here and there is a population that can be served,” board member Bill Strassberger said Sept. 5. ‘‘If anything, it will help the east county.”

Cahill acknowledged the board members’ position – all the more reason, she said, for an independent ‘‘health impact study” to determine how Washington Adventist’s move would affect the county’s infrastructure.

‘‘If you allow this move to happen without an analysis of its impact, it’s very hard to undo,” Cahill said, noting Washington Adventist’s plans are the first major change to Montgomery County’s hospital system since Shady Grove Adventist Hospital was built in 1979.

County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) has said the county does not need to do its own study because a decision on the hospital’s move is made by the Maryland Health Care Commission, and local governments provide input to the commission.

Pam Barclay, director of the commission’s Center for Hospital Services, said that while the commission does its own research in making a decision, it seeks comments from the public and keeps documents open for everyone.

Holy Cross, along with Suburban Hospital and Montgomery General, briefed the Montgomery County Council in June. In July, the council signed an ‘‘expression of interest” in undertaking a study and is looking for vendors, Cahill said.

Leggett also signed the statement, county spokesman Patrick Lacefield said. Despite Leggett’s initial opposition to the study, he will most likely decide to fund it at the council’s request, Lacefield said.

In an interview Friday, Stocks said Washington Adventist supports a study as long as it reviews the health care infrastructure for the entire county as opposed to just focusing on Washington Adventist’s move.

Stocks added Washington Adventist is now focusing on the land-use aspect of its move, and he could not say when the hospital would try to secure state approval for the move.

Ultimately, Cahill concluded, Holy Cross wants the study to make sure the best decision is made for the county.

‘‘If Holy Cross is wrong and this independent study says [Washington Adventist’s] move will have no impact, we will say we’re wrong. But what if we’re right?” Cahill said.