Healthy relations are key to expansion

Like Washington Adventist in Takoma Park, Suburban is facing opposition from some of its neighbors. The nearby Huntington Terrace Citizens Association voted in June, 155-0, against Suburban’s proposal to close a street and demolish some homes the hospital owns for the expansion.

‘‘We support the hospital and support efforts to redesign the hospital,” said Bob Deans, a member of the Huntington board of directors and a 16-year resident of the neighborhood. ‘‘The issue is how do you do it and where do you do it. We don’t think Suburban has to do it by closing a street or destroying homes.”

The hospital has formed a community advisory board of representatives from about 25 community groups and continues to work with residents, Borenstein-Levy said. ‘‘We have made some modifications in our plan to better address the concerns and feedback from neighbors,” she said, adding that the 14-acre campus near downtown Bethesda has little room with which to work.

Deans points to the process used by Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring as a model he’d like to see.

The 425-bed Holy Cross — the largest hospital in Montgomery County in terms of beds — had very little land to work with as well, said Neal McKelvey, a senior vice president at Holy Cross. The 14-acre campus is surrounded by residences and the Beltway.

Holy Cross had the project’s main architect meet with neighbors before its executives did to discuss the residents’ needs and interests, McKelvey said. The architect carried no plans or schemes, just blank sheets of paper.

‘‘We’ve had some difficult moments in the past,” McKelvey said. ‘‘Something as simple as coming in with blank sheets of paper rather than drawings and designs seemed to work. If you carry in plans, then even if you say you are open to changes, a lot of people will still think it’s finalized.”

Compromises were ironed out on both sides, such as shielding two parking structures with extensive landscaping and making sure traffic from the garages did not flow into the neighborhood.

The process to get Shady Grove Adventist Hospital’s expansion in Rockville approved was a little easier. That center is the only one in the county not in a largely residential neighborhood that requires a special zoning exemption, said William G. Robertson, CEO and president of Adventist HealthCare, which owns and operates the hospital. The hospital still had to obtain land-use approval from the county and pass scrutiny with state regulators, he said.

Montgomery General’s residential neighbors in Olney are not as close to the campus as residents are to Washington Adventist and Suburban, said Lynne Myers, vice president for corporate strategy and professional services. Montgomery General executives did spend a lot of time meeting with residents before attempting to get its $30 million project approved by the county, she said.

‘‘Keeping an ongoing dialogue is very important,” Myers said. ‘‘We understand how important it is to [residents] because they live here.”