Holy Cross Hospital, Montgomery General Hospital and Suburban Hospital have sent a joint letter to the County Executive and the County Council asking for a reduced energy tax increase (which the Executive has proposed doubling) that would be levied on a temporary basis. Following is the letter.
May 5, 2010
The Honorable Isiah Leggett
Montgomery County Executive
Executive Office Building
101 Monroe Street
Second Floor
Rockville, MD 20850
The Honorable Nancy Floreen
President
Montgomery County Council
100 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, MD 20850
Dear County Executive Leggett and Council President Floreen:
On behalf of Holy Cross, Montgomery General and Suburban Hospitals, we are writing to share our serious concerns regarding the proposed 100 percent increase in the county energy tax.
At the outset, we want to emphasize that we understand and appreciate the difficult budgetary decisions you and the members of the County Council face. There are no easy decisions associated with having to close a billion dollar budget gap – particularly as the demand for services due to the economy increases. We also recognize all stakeholders need to be part of the solution.
For our hospitals, the proposed increase collectively equates to $1,200,428, broken down as follows:
Holy Cross – $560,000
Montgomery General – $298,734
Suburban – $341,694
A tax of this magnitude, on top of significant hospital Medicaid cuts and an increasing demand for services as a result of the economy, will have a material negative impact on our continued ability to provide services the residents of Montgomery County need and deserve.
Following the budget cuts contained in the state’s FY 2010 budget, hospitals were forced to absorb an additional $27.5 million in cuts taken by the Board of Public Works and $106 million in averted uncompensated care funding. This difficult situation was further exacerbated by the heavy impact of the February snowstorms. And, the FY 2011 state budget recently adopted by the General Assembly contains a further $123 million in Medicaid reductions to hospitals.
Unlike other businesses, hospitals in Maryland cannot simply pass additional costs onto our customers. As you know, the rates Maryland hospitals can legally charge are established by the Health Services Cost Review Commission. And, unlike hospitals in other states, we cannot cost-shift government underpayments and taxes to private commercial insurers. These additional costs come off the already slim and decreasing margins of our hospitals.
Unlike other energy consumers, hospitals are limited in their energy conservation options. Hospitals are 24/7 operations, very dependent on technology, and required to comply with a multitude of government regulatory requirements. Turning off lights, lowering the heat, etc. are often not viable options for us.
As not-for-profit entities, the margins hospitals generate are reinvested back into our facilities, our employees, and our communities – the exact types of reinvestments that serve to strengthen Montgomery County’s economy. In addition to the community health and wellness programs each of our hospitals provides independently to Montgomery County residents, we have partnered with the County on many occasions to further address the unmet health care needs of our communities. Examples of our support include: expanding clinics to serve the Montgomery Cares population, and funding for the recent community health needs assessment by the Urban Institute.
The energy tax proposal represents a real and significant additional cost to the hospitals in Montgomery County. As the debate moves forward, we ask that you take these factors into account and we request consideration of a lower increase in the proposed energy tax for the not-for-profit hospitals in Montgomery County. In addition, we believe it is critically important that the increase in the energy tax be sunset. Any increase in the energy tax should be a short term bridge to enable the county to continue to provide essential services during these extraordinary economic times.
Thank you for your consideration of our perspectives. We would welcome the opportunity to further discuss with you the issues and implications for our hospitals.
Sincerely,
Kevin J. Sexton
President
Holy Cross Hospital
Peter W. Monge
President
Montgomery General Hospital
Brian A. Gragnolati
President
Suburban Hospital
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Three Hospitals Call for Lower Energy Tax Hike
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The Campus is the Wrong Place for a Hospital
By Gene Counihan.
As a former trustee of Montgomery College (1998 until September 2009) as well as a current member of the Governing Board of Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, I have followed with great interest and concern the Adventist HealthCare and Holy Cross Hospital proposals to develop a hospital in upper Montgomery County. Both institutions are longtime, responsible, and valued corporate members of our community. I am speaking out publicly now to express my conviction that locating any hospital on the Montgomery College Germantown campus property is not the right thing to do.
I come to that view independently of my affiliation with Shady Grove Hospital. I have tried to serve the interests of my fellow Montgomery County residents in many capacities over the past 45 years – 12 years as a delegate to the Maryland General Assembly, a longtime board member of Universities of Maryland at Shady Grove, founding member of the Committee for Montgomery, member and past president of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, president emeritus of Olney Theatre Center and chairman of the Montgomery Village Foundation – as well as the previously noted board service at Montgomery College and Shady Grove Hospital. My experience also includes 29 years with Montgomery County Public Schools and more than a decade in government relations with WMATA (Metro). I currently serve as Chairman of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission.
All of these activities have given me a deep understanding of Montgomery County issues and how public policy is formed. I hope that they also show that I come to my views on this subject from a broad perspective and a sincere desire to promote neither the interests of Montgomery College nor of the Shady Grove Adventist Hospital but rather the interests of all who live in Montgomery County. My objections to locating a hospital on the Montgomery College Germantown property are summarized here:
1. The process that resulted in the agreement between the College and Holy Cross Hospital was initiated quietly, behind closed doors without the knowledge or participation of the College’s Board of Trustees or the community at large. The Montgomery College Foundation, the former President of the College, and the property’s developer (Foulger Pratt) privately worked out the tentative agreement with Holy Cross Hospital amongst themselves. Contrary to the way major public/private developments are undertaken in Montgomery County, other healthcare institutions, such as Adventist HealthCare, MedStar, amd Johns Hopkins, all of whom have a presence in the County, were not given the same opportunity to present competing bids and proposals for developing a hospital facility on College property in Germantown. There were no informational hearings for public comment, so no civic or other interested community members had the opportunity to express their opinions or have questions answered. The deal was simply announced after Holy Cross submitted a letter of intent to build a hospital on the campus to the Maryland Health Care Commission. This process was not in keeping with our tradition in Montgomery County of transparency and community involvement.
2. The site where the hospital is now proposed to be located (near the middle of the campus) was purchased with public funds to accommodate the future growth needs of the academic programs of the College, not for private development. The original site selected for a public/private partnership project was located on the edge of the campus along I-270. The present site should be retained to meet future college growth needs.
3. The argument that having a hospital in the center of the Germantown campus would benefit the College’s Nursing Program is weak. The College’s nursing program is located over 20 miles away on its Takoma Park/Silver Spring campus. The County and State recently invested millions of dollars in building a state-of-the-art Health Sciences Building to support health care and nursing programs on the Takoma Park/Silver Spring campus.
4. The Germantown campus is not the right place for any new hospital. There is a nearly new Germantown Emergency Center located near the College campus. The center is operated by Adventist HealthCare as an adjunct to its Shady Grove Adventist Hospital emergency room. It doesn’t make sense to locate two emergency rooms almost next door to each other.
Gene Counihan, Montgomery Village, MD
Editor’s Note: Gene Counihan is a former member of the House of Delegates, a former President of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, is the former Maryland Government Relations Officer for WMATA and is the current Chair of WSSC.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Adventist Announces New Hospital in Clarksburg
Following is a press release from Adventist announcing its plan to move forward with a new hospital in Clarksburg. The fact that Holy Cross has already announced its intention to open a new hospital in Germantown guarantees an interesting competition between the two giant health care providers. Will the state allow both proposed hospitals to be built?
For Immediate Release
December 2, 2008
Contact: Tom Grant
tgrant@AdventistHealthCare.com
301-315-3356
Adventist HealthCare Announces Plans to Move Forward with Comprehensive Clarksburg Medical Campus, New Hospital
Organization will invite partners interested in jointly developing hospital to improve access to care in rapidly growing part of region
Rockville, MD – With major land-use approvals nearly complete, Adventist HealthCare today is announcing it will move forward with its longstanding plans to build a comprehensive medical campus and hospital in Clarksburg and will invite other health-care providers to collaborate on the project.
Adventist HealthCare has already begun discussions with potential health-care partners interested in working on the project and may reach an agreement over the next few months. Hospital officials expect to file for state regulatory approval in 2009.
“We believe the hospital and medical campus in the Cabin Branch section of Clarksburg will improve access to health care in the fastest growing regions of our community and be an extraordinary resource for the communities we serve,” said William G. “Bill” Robertson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Adventist HealthCare. “Developing this project with other providers could expand the availability of health-care services. Collaboration is a way to enhance, rather than detract from, existing health-care resources.”
Adventist HealthCare has worked for six years (see attached timeline) with Montgomery County planners, adjoining landowners and the community to complete the various stages of the land-use process. Plans for the 60-acre site, located at Route 121 and Interstate 270, include a 100-bed hospital, medical office buildings for physicians and outpatient medical services, a nursing home and a day-care center.
Clarksburg, along with its neighboring community to the north, Urbana in Frederick County, is experiencing rapid population growth and will need expanded health-care services. The site is situated nearly halfway on the Interstate 270 corridor between two existing hospitals – Shady Grove Adventist to the south and Frederick Memorial Hospital to the north – which minimizes its impact on the region’s existing health-care resources.
“Adventist HealthCare has long met the health-care needs of residents in the Gaithersburg community,” said Sidney Katz, Mayor of Gaithersburg. “As an organization we have found them to be open and forward thinking. Their expansion into the Clarksburg area provides an opportunity for Adventist HealthCare to leverage existing health-care resources and to lay the groundwork for meeting the future needs of a growing region.”
The health-care campus is planned as part of a mixed use community – with active adult housing, retail and office space, restaurants, a hotel and nearly 2,000 dwelling units. It is located in an area where a hospital and all of its related facilities could be planned in advance with no adverse impact on surrounding businesses and residents.
“Adventist HealthCare’s careful, deliberate planning approach promises a plan for the health-care campus where pedestrian access and traffic flow are each priorities,” said Kathie Hulley, President of the Clarksburg Civic Association. “The campus relates thoroughly to the nearby residential community.”
In 2001, Adventist HealthCare recognized the emerging need for additional health-care services in the upper part of Montgomery County. Hospital officials embarked on a journey to expand its Shady Grove Adventists Hospital facility, which was completed in 2008; develop an emergency center in Germantown, which opened in 2006; and acquire property in Cabin Branch for the future campus.
“Adventist HealthCare has worked diligently to meet the health-care needs of the upcounty community, starting with the opening of Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in 1979 and continuing with its work in Germantown and now Clarksburg – always responding to our growing needs and meeting them,” said Randy Scritchfield, an upcounty business owner and community leader.
Adventist HealthCare submitted a preapplication plan in 2002, followed by a rezoning of the land to accommodate the hospital and other uses, along with a detailed Development Plan showing a hospital and various related medical buildings and facilities.
In 2004, the Planning Board approved the Preliminary Plan of Subdivision for Cabin Branch, including the hospital and related uses. Although delayed because of the planning process in general and Clarksburg in particular, the Infrastructure Site Plan for Cabin Branch was approved in 2007. Earlier this year, a detailed Site Plan for the first phase of development at Cabin Branch was approved and plans for subsequent phases are pending.
In addition, the location fits in with the goals of Montgomery County Park and Planning and the County Department of Health and Human Services to explore ways that land-use planning can be used as a tool to improve health outcomes.
“The Cabin Branch model, where health-care services and concepts are built into the community from the beginning, provides an ideal opportunity to examine the link between the health status and opportunities of a community and land-use planning,” Robertson said.
Update: The Post has more.
Monday, April 28, 2008
MoCo: Who Cares About Hospitals? We Want an Arena!
Washington Adventist Hospital’s impending move out of Takoma Park is the biggest development in Montgomery County’s health care system in decades. So why is the Montgomery County government’s reaction one of complete silence?
Currently located in Takoma Park, Adventist is the second-biggest hospital in Montgomery County with 294 beds. After a four-year battle with its neighbors over an expansion plan, Adventist announced it was leaving Takoma Park in 2005. While the hospital’s CEO denied that the conflict with neighbors motivated the move, he did say that its current 14-acre site was not big enough to accommodate the hospital’s long-term needs. Two years later, Adventist purchased 48 acres near US-29 and Cherry Hill Road for a new campus. Montgomery County’s Planning Board unanimously recommended a special exception for the hospital’s land use last week. The final decision on Adventist’s move will be made by the Maryland Health Care Commission and many expect Adventist to file its Certificate of Need (a required application from hospitals for major capital projects) this August.
Holy Cross Hospital is 3.6 miles up Sligo Creek Parkway from Adventist and is the county’s largest hospital (404 beds). When Adventist announced its land purchase, Holy Cross reacted with alarm. Holy Cross told the Gazette and its neighbors that it would be “overwhelmed” by former Adventist patients from Down-county, Prince George’s County and the District if Adventist were allowed to flee up US-29.
This matter is not simply a battle between hospitals. The neighborhoods around Holy Cross have been moved to militancy in recent years by the treacherous conditions at the Intersection of Death, a failed development proposal at the Forest Glen Metro station and a giant expansion planned for the Sligo Creek Golf Course. These same neighborhoods are negotiating with Holy Cross Hospital over its own 100-room expansion after going through a previous one completed in 2005. If Holy Cross is correct, Adventist’s move will plug up Georgia Avenue (including the IOD) and Sligo Creek Parkway, flood Holy Cross’s emergency room and produce enormous health care access problems for Down-county patients.
But Holy Cross may not be correct. Since it is hardly an impartial observer of Adventist’s move, its arguments should be evaluated by an independent entity. Last year, both Holy Cross and my civic association wrote to the Montgomery County Council asking them to fund a health impact study on the effect of Adventist’s move. While the Maryland Health Care Commission is a state agency, it does take into account the views of county governments in deciding on Certificates of Need. Surely, we thought, such a significant event in the county’s health care system could not pass without comment by the county government.
Council Member George Leventhal agreed with us. A year ago, the Gazette reported: HHS [Health and Human Services Committee] Chairman George L. Leventhal (D-At large) of Takoma Park proposed assessing the financial stability of the county’s hospitals, how moving one hospital would affect the others and how the changes would affect access to health care.
Despite Leventhal’s dogged advocacy, disagreements over the study’s scope delayed it and the county’s current budget problems ultimately killed it. And so the hospitals and their neighbors prepared for a grim showdown before the Maryland Health Care Commission, with both hospitals submitting their own Certificates of Need for their dueling capital plans and the Montgomery County government standing aside, arms folded, uninterested. Well, we thought, in bad budget times, few get what they want from the county.
“We need to make decisions based on fact, not on the [back and forth] between hospitals. We don’t really know the effects of the move and we need to find out,” he said.
And then this Gazette article crackled through the neighborhood like a midnight thunderbolt. While the county has dickered, bickered, delayed and ultimately abdicated any say on its hospitals, it has spent $150,000 (plus $50,000 of state money) on a planning study for a new indoor arena in Germantown. And the county’s Department of Economic Development is requesting $125,000 more! Put aside the merits of the arena (which my union members would no doubt love to build); does planning for an entertainment facility really take precedence over evaluating the impact of a giant hospital relocation? Apparently some believe it does!
So enjoy watching the Maryland Nighthawks play minor league basketball in the new arena! Just don’t choke on that hot dog. The ambulance may not know where to take you.
