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Two hospitals vying to build a new hospital in the upcounty have polls showing the community supports their proposal.

A poll commissioned by Holy Cross Hospital indicates residents support its plan for a new Germantown hospital by a 2-1 margin, Holy Cross officials say.

Adventist HealthCare's rival proposal for a hospital and medical campus in Clarksburg also is backed by a 2-1 margin, Adventist HealthCare officials say.

Both polls were conducted in mid-June, but the results were not previously released.

Holy Cross officials have touted their poll results to county and state officials in an effort to boost their proposal, as the Maryland Health Care Commission formally reviews the two proposals for a new hospital in the upcounty. The state, which has to issue a certificate of need for construction of a new hospital, is not expected to approve both proposals.

Holy Cross announced in August 2008 a plan to build a 93-bed hospital on the Montgomery College campus in Germantown.

Adventist HealthCare announced in April a plan to build a 100-bed hospital on part of a health care campus in Clarksburg. Shady Grove Adventist Hospital also operates an emergency center in Germantown.

"We had the demographic data that proved need, and we wanted to substantiate it had the political support of the community," said Eileen Cahill, vice president of government and community relations at Holy Cross Hospital.

By an overwhelming number, 69 percent of the county strongly supports construction of a new hospital in the upcounty, according to the Holy Cross poll. In District 2, which encompasses the upcounty, the number in strong support of a new hospital increases to 77 percent, according to the poll.

The Holy Cross survey of 503 county residents was conducted by Hart Research Associates.

The Adventist HealthCare survey, by OpinionWorks, polled 608 residents in ZIP codes north of Gaithersburg.

Holy Cross officials touted their poll results in a letter to County Executive Isiah Leggett.

"Beyond providing health care, voters were very supportive of using hospitals to train more nurses and other health care workers," said Kevin J. Sexton, Holy Cross Hospital president and CEO, in the letter obtained by The Gazette.

The Holy Cross plan includes training new nurses and other health professionals at the new Germantown hospital on the grounds adjoining Montgomery College.

Sixty-six percent of those surveyed said using the hospital to train nurses and other health care professionals was important.

Adventist HealthCare officials tout the economic benefits to Clarksburg of its proposed hospital, nursing center and medical campus, which are expected to create more than 1,000 jobs, said Adventist HealthCare spokesman Thomas Grant.

Added Robert Jepson, vice president of government relations and public policy at Adventist HealthCare, "If you look at our approach to the development of the Clarksburg project, we've been very open and collaborative with the community, which has helped us gain land-use approval and support."

Unlike Holy Cross, Adventist HealthCare did not write a letter to Leggett's office about the poll results.

"We did it as part of the outreach to the community and to understand what the community wants," Jepson said. "We conducted this poll not to score political points or to curry political favor."

According to pollster Steve Raabe, president of OpinionWorks, those surveyed preferred the Adventist proposal 61 percent to 31 percent over Holy Cross' proposal.

Many of the upcounty residents were worried about what would happen to the Shady Grove Adventist Hospital's emergency center in Germantown if Holy Cross opened a hospital, Raabe said. Four out of five of the people surveyed supported the Clarksburg proposal because of the jobs it would create, Raabe said.

Public input on the two proposals under consideration by the state commission ended Monday.

One aspect that will be considered by the state is the financial health of the two organizations, Cahill said.

Holy Cross Hospital's parent organization has said it would self-finance the cost, projected to be $267 million. Adventist HealthCare would hold a fundraiser and borrow to pay for its projected $202 million facility.

Adventist HealthCare, with gross revenue of $1.19 billion in fiscal 2008, is a nonprofit affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Holy Cross Hospital is operated by Trinity Health, which had gross revenue of $6.3 billion in fiscal 2008. Trinity Health operates Catholic hospitals nationwide.