Hospital chief pledges to work with White Oak community on relocation

‘‘This is going to be in your community and we want to do it right,” he said. ‘‘We want to make sure you know what’s going and have all of your questions answered.”

Members of the board and the handful of residents in attendance did have a few general questions. The biggest concern raised was about the potential increase in traffic. ‘‘Nothing seems to be getting done,” board member Stanley Doore said.

Stocks acknowledged transportation was one of the issues the hospital would work on with the community. But Montgomery County Council President Marilyn J. Praisner (D-Dist. 4) of Calverton, who attended the meeting, said the county will be conducting studies and addressing traffic issues now that it knows the development plans for the area. That includes a proposed science and technology center on the nearby Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission’s Site 2 regional composting plant, which closed in 1999.

‘‘You can’t plan the width of the roads and the network of roads ... until you know what’s going there,” Praisner said.

As for the hospital, engineering work has begun, Stocks said, and the paperwork is being prepared for the Montgomery County Planning Board as well as the Certificate of Need with the Maryland Health Care Commission, a requirement for all hospitals considering a move. Stocks could only say the process would take ‘‘a number of months” and could not yet give a construction timeline.

While the physical features of the building have yet to be determined, Stocks said the new hospital would have private rooms for all patients and the same number of beds as the current hospital. Washington Adventist is licensed for 285 beds, he said, but the number can change yearly based on population data. All of the services offered currently at the hospital will be offered at its new location, Stocks said. The hospital ideally would want 200,000 to 300,000 square feet of office space on the site, up from the 65,000 square feet it currently has in Takoma Park, he added.

The hospital’s new location will be closer for most of its patients, Stocks said. Sixty percent of the hospital’s patients will live within six miles of the new location, according to hospital officials. Washington Adventist treated 101,000 patients in 2006.

Stocks also introduced Geoffrey Morgan, vice president and chief operations officer, who is working full-time on the development of the new hospital.