WAH Land Use Panel Seeks Meeting With City Council

The Washington Adventist Hospital Land Use Committee is unhappy with that the Takoma Park Council issued a letter saying the hospital addressed some of the issued related to the it's proposed move to the White Oak area and wants a meeting with the council. The committee contends the hospital has not address any of the issues.

“[The] reason to meet with the City Council is to understand why they have taken the position they have, why are they so comfortable with this,” said Vanessa Dixon, a member of the WAH Land Use Committee which met May 17.

In a letter from the city, dated April 11 and addressed to Randall P. Worthington, Sr., commissioner/reviewer for the Maryland Health Care Commission, the city said WAH has addressed issues related to the hospital’s proposed move to the White Oak area. That has motivated members of the WAH Land Use Committee to want to meet with the City Council.

“The (WAH Land Use) committee felt it did not have input into anything leading up to the city’s letter,” said Anne Hollander, chairperson. “Ultimately, people generally agree that while we might have hoped the city would approach the committee to obtain our input, by the same token it is not as if we’ve been in regular contact with the council,” she said.

 The letter did point out some issues that yet to be resolved before MHCC approves WAH’s  “certificate of needs” application, though.

“The City of Takoma Park will be dramatically affected by the proposed project and appreciates your careful consideration of its still unresolved concerns about the proposed relocation. The city notes that the applicant, Washington Adventist Hospital, Inc. and its sole members, Adventist HealthCare, Inc., have addressed some of the issues raised in the city’s correspondence dated April 9, 2009. However, the city believes that a few matters related to access and sustainability of the proposed Village of Health, Education and Well Being require more refined answers,” said the letter which was signed by Mayor Bruce Williams, City Manager Barbara Matthews and City Attorney Susan Silber. 

“The letter from the city council did point out some disadvantages. It was kind of soft, but they did have a problem with access to this new facility,” said committee member Jackie Davison. “They (the city) pointed out the lack of transportation. They spent quite a bit of time on that, it was in direct opposition to what was said in the certificate of need,” she said.

In addition to the city council, the District 20 Delegation—representing Takoma Park, Silver Spring, Colesville and White Oak in Montgomery County—also issued a letter dealing with WAH’s certificate of need. 

However, the District 20 Delegation members—who are Democratic state lawmakers Sen. Jamie Raskin, and Delegates Heather Mizeur, Shelia Hixson and Tom Hucker—was far more direct in its support of WAH’s certificate of need than the city council's. The delegates’ letter said they are “pleased to express it support for Washington Adventist Hospital’s Certificate of Need filing with the State of Maryland to relocate and develop a twenty-first century hospital and medical campus in White Oak.”

In addition, the delegates write, “We recognize that Washington Adventist Hospital now faces major challenges at its current location in Takoma Park that must be proactively addresses to ensure its long-term viability. The campus is crowded and lacks adequate physician offices and outpatient facilities, the hospital facility itself is aging and inefficient, and there are major access challenges to the site. Relocating the hospital to White Oak while modifying and continuing the use of its Takoma Park campus as a local wellness village is the ideal solution for WAH to meet the health-care needs of our communities now and well into the future.

“Washington Adventist Hospital will be a stronger and accessible facility at its new location in White Oak and will help bolster the health-care infrastructure for the entire region,” says the delegation’s letter.

Dixon took issue with that letter as well.

“I don’t understand why the delegation or city council would act as if the relocation of the hospital is a fait accompli (a done deal or fact), it’s not a fait accompli,” Dixon said.