Holy Cross presents plans for Germantown hospital

UPDATED 3:10 p.m.: Officials from Holy Cross Hospital presented its plans for Germantown to the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday.

Speakers highlighted the hospital’s plans to accommodate older patients and discussed the benefits of its partnership with Montgomery College’s Germantown campus, where it would be an anchor tenant in the college’s science and technology park.

Sanjay Rai, vice president and provost of the Germantown campus, said students would benefit from having a hospital on campus. He said coursework could be aligned to industry standards to eliminate the learning curve at work. Students could see industry standards at work next door.

“The hospital allows us to build our science and technology park,” Rai said. “It allows us to bring professional researchers practitioners right on our campus.”

Holy Cross is expected to open in 2014, after receiving a favorable recommendation from Maryland Healthcare Commission chair Dr. Marilyn Moon and a unanimous (9-0) vote of approval from the Healthcare Commission in January. 

The lease between Holy Cross Hospital and Montgomery College has been approved the college's board of trustees and will soon be taken up by the Board of Public Works.  Holy Cross Hospital has filed an initial site plan with Park & Planning and the college will soon be filing a preliminary plan of subdivision. Both plans require approval of the Planning Board and once approved, Holy Cross will apply for building permits.

“We are ready to put the shovel in the ground as soon as we get these building permits,” said Holy Cross spokesperson Eileen Cahill.

Cahill said the Germantown hospital would duplicate the senior program at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring. Germantown’s 93-bed facility would carve a separate and quieter waiting room with softer lighting, muted colors and special flooring to accommodate patients with mobility problems. The $202 million hospital would also include six psychiatric beds, obstetric services and a clinic for uninsured women. 

Patch reported in January that Holy Cross beat Adventist Healthcare’s dueling bid for an Upcounty hospital. The Healthcare Commission concluded that Adventist, which planned to build a $177 million 86-bed facility in Clarksburg, was unable to show sufficient financial feasibility to sustain a hospital in Clarksburg. In addition, the commission decided a Germantown location of rapidly developing community.