Clarksburg Hospital Former Upcounty Legislator Endorses Adventist HealthCare’s Planned Clarksburg Hospital and Medical Campus

P.J. Hogan latest of well-respected state, community leaders to voice his support

Rockville, Md. – Former District 39 State Senator and longtime Montgomery Village resident, Patrick J. Hogan, this week urged upcounty residents and community leaders to support Adventist HealthCare’s planned Clarksburg Community Hospital and Medical Campus. Hogan, who was also instrumental in helping to open the Shady Grove Adventist Emergency Center in Germantown, Md., in 2006, made his comments in a video posted on the hospital’s web site and social media outlets.

In Hogan’s video, he discusses the growth of not only upper Montgomery County but also lower Frederick County and how the Clarksburg location will provide residents with a range of health-care services the region needs.

Hogan said the Clarksburg plan is also the perfect complement to already existing health-care services, including Frederick Memorial Hospital, Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in the Gaithersburg/Rockville area and the Germantown Emergency Center on Route 118.

"The reason the Clarksburg plan is the right site for a hospital is that it splits that difference between a hospital in Frederick and Shady Grove Adventist," Hogan said. "It will provide all the different health-care services that people need."

Hogan also reinforces why he believes the 86-bed Clarksburg Community Hospital is the right hospital, as Adventist HealthCare has worked for years with the community to expand access to health-care services.

"Not only is the hospital needed in Clarksburg today, it will be needed in the future even more. So it truly is the right place to put it," P.J. Hogan said. "It’s the right location and it will provide the health-care services as the county continues to build out."

The proposed $177 million Clarksburg Community Hospital is designed to serve the fast-growing populations of upper Montgomery County and lower Frederick County. The comprehensive medical campus, to be located directly off I-270 just south of Route 121, will also include doctors’ offices, a child-care center, a primary care clinic for the uninsured and a nursing center for seniors. It is the only upcounty hospital proposal to have all major land, environmental and traffic approvals from Montgomery County.

Hogan was one of several key state legislators and county politicians to help Adventist HealthCare open what has now become the nationally recognized Germantown Emergency Center.

"This was a bold step for Adventist HealthCare to put an emergency center in Germantown," Hogan said. "Nobody else was willing to do it. They have a proven track record of providing health care."

In 2009, the Germantown Emergency Center provided medical care to more than 35,000 patients and has become a model for other states looking to open free-standing emergency centers.

Hogan is the latest of numerous well-respected supporters to vocalize their advocacy for the Clarksburg Community Hospital. Last fall, 11 of the 12 state legislators who represent upper Montgomery County wrote letters on two separate occasions asking the Maryland Health Care Commission to approve the Clarksburg plan and to preserve the Germantown Emergency Center.

"We are very grateful for supporters like P.J. Hogan who have given so much of their time and energy to the upcounty for many years," said William G. "Bill" Robertson, President and CEO of Adventist HealthCare. "Their valuable input into our Clarksburg project has helped us develop a comprehensive plan that will benefit the entire region not only today, but in the future. We look forward to continuing our work with the community in expanding access to health care services for the entire region."

To view Hogan’s video testimonial and other Clarksburg Community Hospital supporter videos, visit www.ClarksburgHospital.com or become a fan of the Clarksburg Community Hospital Facebook page.

Adventist HealthCare, an integrated, health-care delivery organization based in Rockville, Maryland, is one of the largest employers in the state of Maryland. The mission of Adventist HealthCare is to demonstrate God’s care by improving the health of people and communities through a ministry of physical, mental and spiritual healing. Adventist HealthCare includes Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, Shady Grove Adventist Germantown Emergency Center, Washington Adventist Hospital, Adventist Behavioral Health, Adventist Rehabilitation Hospital of Maryland, Adventist Senior Living Services, Adventist Home Health Services and the Reginald S. Lourie Center for Infants and Young Children.

Adventist HealthCare will open a new radiation oncology center in Germantown next year.

The $5.5 million, 6,500-square-foot facility is expected to open in early 2011 in the Seneca Meadows Corporate Center, said Dennis Hansen, president of Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville. The center eventually will occupy 10,500 square feet of office space.

Radiation oncology is a radiation treatment that damages the DNA of cancer cells and prevents them from growing and dividing by using high-powered X-rays or radioactive seed implants, said Jennifer Plaia, a spokeswoman for Shady Grove Adventist Hospital. Treatment can last six weeks, she said, and about 60 percent of Adventist’s radiation patients live north of Rockville.

“For those who find themselves in need of cancer treatment, they often need weeks of treatment,” Hansen said. “It’s a service you need on a daily basis, so convenience is especially important.”

Radiation therapy is used to treat a variety of types of the disease, including breast, prostate and lung cancer, Plaia said. More than 60 percent of cancer patients are treated by radiation oncologists.

The radiation oncology center will be about two miles from the Shady Grove Adventist Emergency Center, 19731 Germantown Road, which opened in August 2006.

“We’re looking for ways to get complementary services and not to duplicate services,” Hansen said. “This location makes sense on a regional basis.”

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Free-Standing Center, along with Planned Clarksburg Community Hospital, Plays an Important Role in Expanding Health Care Access for Upper Montgomery County

Rockville, Md. – Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley today signed legislation that directs the state to set reimbursement rates for freestanding emergency facilities in Maryland, including the Shady Grove Adventist Germantown Emergency Center, to help cover important staffing and equipment costs.

This new law addresses an issue remaining after earlier legislation enabled the establishment of the Shady Grove Adventist Germantown Emergency Center and the new Queen Anne’s County Emergency Center (set to open in October). The new legislation brings these facilities under the authority of the Health Services Cost Review Commission, making them available for Medicare and Medicaid fee-for-services reimbursement. It also enables Medicaid reimbursement to be available for the Bowie Health Center in Prince George’s County, a similar facility.

“We want to thank the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission and the Maryland Health Care Commission for working with the governor, the legislature and health-care providers to come up with a solution that helps ensure and maintain expanded access to care,” said William G. “Bill” Robertson, President and CEO of Adventist HealthCare. “It is through collaboration like this that we can work to strengthen the state’s health-care network for all Marylanders.”

The legislation, passed by the Maryland General Assembly this April, requires freestanding emergency centers to be “rate-regulated” by the state, which sets how Medicare and other insurers reimburse for a specific treatment for hospital-based services. The bill also places a moratorium on any new freestanding medical facilities until 2015, when a formal Certificate of Need (CON) process will be implemented for consideration of new facilities of this kind.

The Germantown Emergency Center is an integral part of Adventist HealthCare’s longstanding commitment to expand access to health care for residents in upper Montgomery County. This commitment began with the opening of Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in 1979 and continued with the opening in 2006 of the Germantown Emergency Center, a facility that has drawn national attention. In 2008, Adventist HealthCare opened a primary care clinic for the uninsured and a prenatal center for uninsured women, both in Germantown.

Freestanding emergency departments are staffed by physicians and nurses and are fully equipped to handle medical emergencies and accept patients by ambulance just like a hospital emergency room. The facilities are administratively and clinically linked into a hospital and licensed by the state.

The Shady Grove Adventist Germantown Emergency Center has saved lives and improved access to emergency medical care for upper Montgomery County residents. The facility, which is equipped to handle the full range of emergency medicine needs, has also reduced patient volume at the main Shady Grove Adventist Hospital Emergency Department, once the busiest in Maryland.

“In 2009, the Germantown Emergency Center provided vital emergency medical care to more than 36,000 patients,” said Dr. Brett Gamma, Medical Director of the Germantown Emergency Center and Vice Chair of Emergency Services at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital. “The skilled care of our team regularly achieves patient satisfaction scores above the 90th percentile. The high volumes of satisfied patients at the Germantown Emergency Center demonstrate how the facility has successfully increased access to health care for the upcounty region.”

The Germantown Emergency Center has also reduced out-of-service times for ambulances in the upcounty community by 40 percent.

“The Germantown Emergency Center has effectively, and in a cost-efficient manner, improved access to emergency medical care for residents in upper Montgomery County,” wrote Richard Bowers, Fire Chief of Montgomery County Fire/Rescue Services, to the state legislature urging approval of the legislation. “I appreciate Adventist HealthCare’s efforts as a community-focused, collaborative organization dedicated to meeting the health care needs of Montgomery County residents.”

To complement the existing health care services in upper Montgomery County and to best serve future health-care needs in the region, Adventist HealthCare has also proposed the development of the Clarksburg Community Hospital and Medical Campus, currently under review by the Maryland Health Care Commission.

The hospital and medical campus, which has all major environmental and land-use approvals from Montgomery County, will include physician offices, a nursing and rehabilitation center for the county’s aging population, a day care center to meet the needs of young families and a primary care clinic for the underserved communities. The hospital and medical campus would serve a large and growing region including Germantown, up through Damascus, Clarksburg and communities in southern Frederick County.

“The Clarksburg proposal, combined with the continued operation of the Germantown Emergency Center, provides a well-coordinated array of services for our upcounty constituents,” wrote 11 state legislators, who represent upper Montgomery County, in a letter to the state Health Care Commission.

These same legislators, plus many others from across the state, were strong supporters of the emergency center legislation.

“We would like to thank all of the elected officials who helped with this legislation and who have been so supportive of the Germantown Emergency Center,” said Robert Jepson, Vice President of Government Relations & Public Policy for Adventist HealthCare. “In particular, we want to acknowledge the leadership of the bill’s primary sponsors during this legislative session, Maryland State Senators Rob Garagiola (D-Dist. 15) and Nancy King (D-Dist. 39), and Delegate Kirill Reznik (D-Dist. 39), for shepherding this important piece of legislation through the General Assembly.”

Adventist HealthCare, an integrated, health-care delivery organization based in Rockville, Maryland, is one of the largest employers in the state of Maryland. The mission of Adventist HealthCare is to demonstrate God’s care by improving the health of people and communities through a ministry of physical, mental and spiritual healing. Adventist HealthCare includes Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, Shady Grove Adventist Germantown Emergency Center, Washington Adventist Hospital, Adventist Behavioral Health, Adventist Rehabilitation Hospital of Maryland, Adventist Senior Living Services, Adventist Home Health Services and the Reginald S. Lourie Center for Infants and Young Children.

Supporters of a proposed Clarksburg hospital rallied for their cause Monday, while about a mile away, the group behind a competing Germantown hospital proposal released an economic impact report supporting its project.

The two hospital systems — Adventist HealthCare System, which seeks to build the Clarksburg Community Hospital and Holy Cross Hospital, which wants to build a facility in Germantown — are  vying for approval from the state, but only one can win.

“There are serious questions if a hospital is located about a mile from there about the long-term viability of the emergency center in Germantown,” Jepson said. “We think it makes sense to add services incrementally rather than disrupt or destroy existing services.”

Adventist would build its hospital on a 60-acre parcel of land in Clarksburg off Interstate 270, serving a growing region that includes Germantown, Damascus and Urbana, just over the Frederick County border. The property would include an 86-bed hospital, a skilled nursing-care center, physician offices and an outpatient facility.

The state is expected to make its decision in early fall, said Pamela Barclay, director of the Maryland Health Care Commission’s Center for Hospital Services.

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Residents Speak of Commitment, Collaboration and Economic Viability of Adventist HealthCare’s Upcounty Proposal

Germantown, Md. – Upcounty residents and business leaders gathered in Germantown today to show support for Adventist HealthCare’s planned Clarksburg Community Hospital and medical campus as well as the continued operation of the Shady Grove Adventist Emergency Center in Germantown.

“We are impressed by the outpouring of support for our upcounty proposal, which provides comprehensive care to the entire upcounty,” said William G. “Bill” Robertson, President and CEO of Adventist HealthCare. “We are grateful to them for helping us as we continue our work to make health care accessible for all.”

Since 2002, Adventist HealthCare has been working closely with upcounty residents, community leaders and elected officials on plans to build a hospital and medical campus in Clarksburg, which would serve communities throughout the upcounty including Germantown, Boyds, Clarksburg, Damascus and Urbana in lower Frederick County.

The Clarksburg project reinforces Adventist HealthCare’s 30-year commitment to serving upper Montgomery County along the I-270 corridor – starting with the opening Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in 1979, continuing through the opening of the Germantown Emergency Center in 2006 as well as clinics in Germantown offering primary and women’s care and finally with current plans to build the medical campus in Clarksburg.

The proposed $177-million, 86-bed hospital is designed to serve the fast-growing populations of upper Montgomery County and lower Frederick County. The comprehensive medical campus would also include doctors’ offices, a child care center, a primary care clinic for the uninsured and a nursing center for seniors.

“The Clarksburg Hospital, with its location right off of the 270 exit for Route 121, is the strongest location for a hospital- not only in Montgomery County but within the state,” said Gordon Taylor an upcounty business owner. “The location provides important access to health care for the entire upcounty region.”

Clarksburg Community Hospital would expand access to health services for residents of the entire upcounty while also complementing the Germantown Emergency Center, which provided medical care to more than 35,000 patients in 2009, and other health care services.

Residents of Germantown, Clarksburg and Damascus attended today’s gathering to also show support for the Germantown Emergency Center and the proposal for a hospital in Clarksburg. The Clarksburg Community Hospital and medical campus plan is the only option that would sustain the future viability of the Germantown Emergency Center. The competing proposal for a hospital in Germantown would threaten the future viability the Emergency Center.

“When my mother needed emergency care, the Germantown Emergency Center was there for us. In fact, Adventist HealthCare has been working with our community for nearly a decade to provide better access to health care for all upcounty residents,” said Maria Garcia, a Germantown resident.

After years of open and collaborative work to ensure all appropriate approvals and plans for the Clarksburg Community Hospital and Medical Campus, the project:

• Has major environmental and land-use approvals from Montgomery County
• Will not negatively impact other health-care providers in the region
• Offers convenient access for all upcounty residents and emergency responders
• Will bring well in excess of 1,000 jobs to the county
• Features 60 acres with space for expansion as the region continues to grow
• Will blend seamlessly with other upcounty development plans

Adventist HealthCare provides more uncompensated and charity care than any other health-care provider in Montgomery County: $68.9M in 2009. The Clarksburg project, with its full medical campus, would be one more way to expand health-care access for residents of upper Montgomery County.

The Maryland Health Care Commission is currently conducting a comparative review of the competing proposals.

Adventist HealthCare, an integrated, health-care delivery organization based in Rockville, Maryland, is one of the largest employers in the state of Maryland. The mission of Adventist HealthCare is to demonstrate God’s care by improving the health of people and communities through a ministry of physical, mental and spiritual healing. Adventist HealthCare includes Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, Washington Adventist Hospital, Adventist Behavioral Health, Adventist Rehabilitation Hospital of Maryland, Adventist Senior Living Services, Adventist Home Health Services and the Reginald S. Lourie Center for Infants and Young Children.

Montgomery County business leaders have sent a joint letter to Maryland hospital regulators in support of Adventist HealthCare’s hospital plan for Clarksburg, one of two proposals vying to build the county’s next hospital.

This latest letter, signed by 19 community and business leaders in upper Montgomery County, backs Rockville-based Adventist HealthCare’s plan to use a 60-acre Clarksburg site for a hospital, physician office buildings, outpatient medical services, a nursing home and a day-care center. Adventist said the supporters sent the letter Wednesday, about a year after it first filed plans for the 86-bed hospital off Interstate 270.

The letter’s signers, a mix of local leaders, civic activists, residents and former state politicians, include Paul Chod, president of Minkoff Development Corp. in Germantown, and Robert Egan, president of High Point Farm in Clarksburg.

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Supporters Recognize Adventist HealthCare’s Plan Will Benefit Upper Montgomery County and Lower Frederick County

Rockville, MD – A group of prominent community and business leaders from across Montgomery County has written to the Maryland Health Care Commission urging the commission to approve the long-planned Clarksburg Community Hospital and Medical Campus, calling it the most complete plan to expand access to health care and foster economic growth in the upcounty.

The April 21 letter, which also urges the Commission to ensure the continued viability of the nationally recognized Germantown Emergency Center, comes one year after Adventist HealthCare officially filed plans for the 86-bed Clarksburg hospital and medical campus off Interstate 270, just south of Route 121.

“We are writing …to express our enthusiastic support for Adventist HealthCare’s plans to develop a hospital and medical campus in Clarksburg that would serve a fast-growing region from Germantown up to Urbana in southern Frederick County,” the 19 community and business leaders write. “We believe this is the superior proposal for a new hospital in Montgomery County.”

The letter writers come from a varied background, including longtime community and business leaders, civic activists and residents and former state politicians.

The letter also comes two weeks after the Commission received an additional 1,350 cards and letters of support from Montgomery County residents for the comprehensive Clarksburg medical campus, which Adventist HealthCare has planned since 2001. The Commission now has more than 3,300 letters and cards from county households specifically supporting the Clarksburg hospital and campus plan.

“We continue to be very impressed by the growing number of supporters who recognize that the Clarksburg hospital is the right proposal, in the right location, done in the right way for the community,” said William G. “Bill” Robertson, President and CEO of Adventist HealthCare. “We are very grateful to them for helping us as we continue our work to expand access to health care for all.”

Supporters also cite the years of open, collaborative work between Adventist HealthCare, the community and Montgomery County as a significant reason to back the Clarksburg plan.

“Adventist HealthCare’s carefully developed plans have resulted in a proposal that blends well with existing and future planned development in an environmentally responsible manner, consistent with stringent County and State land use requirements,” the April 21 letter says. “Finally, Adventist’s proposal complements, rather than conflicts with, existing health-care services in upper Montgomery County, including the Germantown Emergency Center, a facility that has effectively and efficiently improved access to emergency medical care.”

Adventist HealthCare first purchased land in Clarksburg in 2001 with the intent of providing future health-care services to the rapidly growing upcounty region. In the ensuing years, Adventist HealthCare worked on a solid financing plan for the project and collaborated with the community and county planners to ensure the hospital and medical campus blended seamlessly with other development plans.

At the request of state legislators and Adventist HealthCare, MHCC officials are currently conducting a comparative review of the Clarksburg Community Hospital and medical campus plan with a last-minute proposal by Holy Cross Hospital to develop a hospital at the intersection of Middlebrook Road and Route 355 in Germantown. Only Adventist HealthCare’s proposal:

• Has major environmental and land-use approvals from Montgomery County
• Will not negatively impact other health-care providers in the region
• Offers convenient access for all upcounty residents and emergency responders
• Will bring more than 1,000 jobs to the county
• Features 60 acres with space for expansion as the upcounty continues to grow
• Includes a new community hospital and full-service medical campus with:
  • Day-care center to meet the needs of the upcounty’s young families
  • Nursing and rehabilitation center for the county’s aging population
  • Primary care clinic for the upcounty’s underserved communities

For more information on the proposed Clarksburg hospital, visit www.clarksburghospital.com or become a fan of Clarksburg Community Hospital on Facebook.

Adventist HealthCare, an integrated, health-care delivery organization based in Rockville, Maryland, is one of the largest employers in the state of Maryland. The mission of Adventist HealthCare is to demonstrate God’s care by improving the health of people and communities through a ministry of physical, mental and spiritual healing. Adventist HealthCare includes Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, Shady Grove Adventist Germantown Emergency Center, Washington Adventist Hospital, Adventist Behavioral Health, Adventist Rehabilitation Hospital of Maryland, Adventist Senior Living Services, Adventist Home Health Services and the Reginald S. Lourie Center for Infants and Young Children.

Community Support Continues to Grow for New Hospital and Medical Campus in Clarksburg

Supporters Recognize Adventist HealthCare’s Plan Will Benefit All of Upper Montgomery

Rockville, MD – Residents, community leaders and state legislators across upper Montgomery County continue to express tremendous support for Adventist HealthCare’s longtime plan to build a hospital and comprehensive medical campus off Interstate 270 in Clarksburg, an announcement made one year ago this month.

Sheer numbers alone show the widespread support Adventist HealthCare has received to develop the 86-bed Clarksburg Community Hospital and medical campus, while preserving the nationally recognized Shady Grove Adventist Emergency Center on Route 118 in Germantown:

• More than 1,500 response cards and signed letters sent in so far by Montgomery County residents to Adventist HealthCare specifically support a new hospital and medical campus in Clarksburg, and the continued viability of Germantown Emergency Center as a vital community asset.
• More than 200 residents from the upcounty’s Latino community have written this month to the Maryland Health Care Commission (MHCC) backing Adventist HealthCare’s plan, citing the health provider’s years of meeting the needs of the county’s underserved populations. Adventist HealthCare provides more uncompensated and charity care than any other health system in Montgomery County.
• By a 2-to-1 margin, a June poll of upcounty residents determined that Adventist HealthCare’s proposal for a Clarksburg hospital and medical campus is preferred over a competing proposal by Holy Cross Hospital to build a hospital in Germantown.
• Eleven of the 12 state legislators who represent upper Montgomery County wrote letters on two separate occasions asking the MHCC to approve the Clarksburg plan and preserve the Germantown Emergency Center.

“We are very grateful that our supporters recognize that the Clarksburg hospital is the right proposal, in the right location, done in the right way,” said William G. “Bill” Robertson, President and CEO of Adventist HealthCare. “We believe that working with the community, local officials and county planners in an open and collaborative manner, as we have done in Clarksburg the past eight years, is the proper way to expand access to health care for all.”

The letters and e-mails that have come pouring into Adventist HealthCare recognize that Clarksburg Community Hospital and medical campus is the only plan that will expand access to health care for the entire upcounty, will not harm existing health-care services and will bring needed economic growth to the region. Supporters also cite the years of open, collaborative work between Adventist HealthCare, the community and Montgomery County as a significant reason to back the Clarksburg plan.

Adventist HealthCare purchased land in Clarksburg in 2001 with the intent of providing future health-care services to the rapidly growing upcounty region. In the ensuing years Adventist HealthCare worked on a solid financing plan for the project and collaborated with the community and county planners to ensure the hospital and medical campus blended seamlessly with other development plans. Adventist HealthCare announced its plans to move forward with the hospital and medical campus in December 2008 and filed its Certificate of Need application with the MHCC in April 2009.

At the request of state legislators and Adventist HealthCare, MHCC officials are currently conducting a comparative review of the Clarksburg Community Hospital and medical campus plan with a last-minute proposal by Holy Cross Hospital to develop a hospital at the intersection of Middlebrook Road and Route 355 in Germantown. Once the MHCC gives its approval, the Clarksburg hospital could open as soon as 2012.

Only Adventist HealthCare’s proposal:

• Has major environmental and land-use approvals from Montgomery County
• Will not negatively impact other health-care providers in the region
• Offers convenient access for all upcounty residents and emergency responders
• Will bring more than 1,000 jobs to the county
• Features 60 acres with space for expansion as the upcounty continues to grow
• Includes a new community hospital and full-service medical campus with:
  • Day-care center to meet the needs of the upcounty’s young families
  • Nursing and rehabilitation center for the county’s aging population
  • Primary care clinic for the upcounty’s underserved communities

Adventist HealthCare’s Clarksburg plan is an extension of the organization’s long-standing commitment to expand access to health care in the upcounty. In 2005, Adventist HealthCare joined with the upcounty community, state legislators and county officials to build the Shady Grove Adventist Germantown Emergency Center off Route 118. The Germantown facility has successfully operated for three years and provides emergency medical care to more than 36,000 patients each year. The Emergency Center’s medical campus also has a primary care clinic for uninsured residents, a prenatal clinic for low-income women, outpatient radiology services and physician offices.

For more information on the proposed Clarksburg hospital, visit www.clarksburghospital.com or become a fan of Clarksburg Community Hospital on Facebook.

Adventist HealthCare, an integrated, health-care delivery organization based in Rockville, Maryland, is one of the largest employers in the state of Maryland. The mission of Adventist HealthCare is to demonstrate God’s care by improving the health of people and communities through a ministry of physical, mental and spiritual healing. Adventist HealthCare includes Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, Washington Adventist Hospital, Adventist Behavioral Health, Adventist Rehabilitation Hospital of Maryland, Adventist Senior Living Services, Adventist Home Health Services and the Reginald S. Lourie Center for Infants and Young Children.

Going to the hospital can be intimidating for victims of sexual assault. The forensic nurses at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, the only county hospital with sexual abuse specialists, want to change that.

The 13-year-old Sexual Abuse and Assault Center, recently renamed the Forensic Medical Unit, moved into an expanded space in the Rockville hospital last month. The unit, which has a private entrance, will have a grand opening in January to coincide with the first anniversary of the federal Violence Against Women act, which allows health providers to collect and save biological evidence from victims anonymously if they have not decided whether to report the assault to police.

The center’s 10 forensic nurse examiners conduct medical exams, collect forensic evidence, document injuries, test for sexually transmitted diseases, provide mental health or follow-up care and testify in court if a victim decides to press charges, according to Heidi Bresee, coordinator of the Forensic Medical Unit, which has a partnership with the county.

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Adventist HealthCare and Holy Cross Hospital have filed their final applications to build scaled-back hospitals in the upcounty. Adventist reduced its proposed number of beds while Holy Cross reduced the size of its facility.

Adventist made some minor changes to its proposal, which has been in the works for several years and has many of the required land-use approvals from the county, said Robert Jepson, vice president of government relations and public policy for Adventist HealthCare of Rockville. Proposed hospital beds were reduced from 100 to 86 after looking at projections for need, he said. The hospital’s expected cost decreased from about $202 million to roughly $177 million due to softening of the construction market.

“We feel very confident that we have a good project in the fastest growing part of the county,” Jepson said. “We think it’s the right project in the right place at the right time.”

Eleven state legislators wrote that they support Adventist’s proposal in a Sept. 21 letter to the commission because of the level of community involvement in developing the project, existing land use approvals and its location near Interstate 270 within a proposed comprehensive medical campus. All representatives in Districts 15, 17 and 39 except for Del. Saqib Ali (D-Dist. 39) of Gaithersburg signed the letter, which also expressed concerns about the impact a Germantown hospital could have on the Germantown Emergency Center.

Sen. Jennie M. Forehand (D-Dist. 17) of Rockville, Sen. Nancy J. King (D-Dist. 39) of Montgomery Village and Del. Craig L. Rice (D-Dist. 15) of Germantown said the changes to Adventist’s application did not affect their support for the project.

“I liked the way Adventist has gone about doing the project,” King said. “They’ve brought in the public and kept everybody informed all the way through.”

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