Washington Adventist to move out of Takoma Park

Officials cite lack of space at Carroll Avenue site

Monday, Sept. 26, 2005

Click here to enlarge this photo Gazette file photo Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park announced Monday it will be looking for land outside the city to build a new facilty and will leave its Carroll Avenue headquarters around the end of the decade.

The reason for the move, said Adventist HealthCare President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Robertson, has nothing to do with the hospital’s protracted, four-year fight with its neighbors and the city over proposed expansion on the Carroll Avenue campus.

‘‘The decision to move the hospital is not driven or even influenced by that,” Robertson said during an interview Friday. ‘‘What we did was say, ‘what is it going to take to be the right kind of hospital for this community for another 100 years,’ and came to the conclusion that 14 acres isn’t big enough; the density required is not consistent with a resident community and that the transportation challenges with the location that we have are difficult for everybody.”

Washington Adventist’s board endorsed the decision Sept. 21 and the board of Rockville-based Adventist HealthCare, the hospital’s corporate parent, gave final approval Thursday.

The hospital must receive state regulatory approval for the move, and given the uncertainty of how long that process would take, Robertson could only guess that the hospital would close its 318-bed facility, emergency room and cardiovascular facility on Carroll Avenue sometime between 2009 and 2011.

What is certain at this point, he said, is that the hospital would remain in the downcounty area.

‘‘We are committed to the downcounty community, to the primary service area that we now serve, and to the populations that have been our home for 100 years,” Robertson said. ‘‘That’s where we want to provide care, and that’s where we intend to provide care.”

Takoma Park Mayor Kathy Porter said she is optimistic about the future of the hospital site.

‘‘Obviously, we’re very sorry to lose the hospital,” she said. ‘‘It’s been a benefit to the community. I think the fact that we’ve developed a good working relationship with the hospital will help us through the transition.”

‘‘...One of the things that has always been a topic of conversation with the hospital is there’s always been a question about what their long-term plans were,” she said. ‘‘They always said that they didn’t have a long-term plan, so it may be that that’s what they’re looking at now.”

The hospital’s decision to move out of Takoma Park is part of a larger strategic vision that Robertson said would improve access to health care and add new services for residents in the downcounty area, plus Prince George’s County and the District of Columbia.