Groundbreaking Ceremony Held December 8 in Germantown - A New Hospital for Montgomery County -

(Silver Spring, Maryland) – A groundbreaking ceremony was held on December 8 for Montgomery County’s first new hospital in 35 years. For more than four years, Holy Cross Hospital has worked to bring a new hospital to the rapidly growing and aging population of upper Montgomery County and today’s ceremony marks the next step in improved access to health care for upcounty residents.

In his keynote address, Holy Cross Hospital President & CEO Kevin J. Sexton thanked the Sisters of the Holy Cross, who founded the hospital in 1963, for their extraordinary vision and service that led to today’s celebration. He emphasized the current need for a new full-service hospital in the Germantown/Gaithersburg area. Sexton said, “In the next twenty years, Montgomery County will add as many seniors as it has added in its entire history. These seniors will use six times as much hospital care as non-seniors.”

More than 300 people witnessed the ceremony and honored guests included Maryland Senate President Thomas V. “Mike” Miller and other representatives of state and local government. Before giving his invocation, Donald Cardinal Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, recognized Holy Cross Hospital for its longstanding commitment to caring for the underserved and celebrated the new hospital as an expansion of that commitment.

Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett talked about the number of jobs that the new hospital will bring to the County and cited his recent Executive Order designating the new hospital as the first Strategic Economic Development Project in the County. Other speakers included DeRionne P. Pollard, Ph.D., president, Montgomery College, John F. McShea, III, chair of the Holy Cross Hospital Board of Trustees and Paul T. Kaplun, chair of the Holy Cross Foundation Board of Trustees. Sister Jeanette Fettig, CSC, vice chair of the Holy Cross Hospital Board of Trustees, represented the Sisters of the Holy Cross on the dais.

The Maryland Department of Economic Development has put the $202 million Germantown hospital at the top of its list of state projects for the first half of 2011, potentially bringing 1,100 construction jobs to Montgomery County. The new Holy Cross Hospital facility will be located on the Germantown campus of Montgomery College, the first hospital on a community college campus, and is slated to open in 2014.

Below is video from the groundbreaking ceremony held on Dec. 8, 2011 in Germantown, Maryland.

Highlights of the New Hospital in Germantown

93 beds

237,000 square feet

75 medical/surgical, 12 obstetrics, 6 psychiatric beds

5 operating rooms

12 emergency beds

5 labor/delivery/recovery rooms

The unique partnership with Montgomery College will train more nurses and health care workers, and the Germantown hospital will be the first in the nation on a community college campus with an educational partnership. Holy Cross and Montgomery College will work together to double the number of nursing graduates over five years.

To help achieve this goal, Holy Cross has pledged funding to support college programs and students, clinical rotations at the Germantown hospital, and fully funded staff to serve as faculty. The partnership will help address the current severe shortages, especially of registered nurses.

The new hospital will provide nearly 6,000 jobs. The proposed project has significant economic impact, both directly and through its multiplier effect. The construction project alone will lead to the creation of 1,100 Maryland jobs. Ongoing hospital operations will create more than 1,500 jobs. The combined effect of hospital operations, an expanded nursing program, and a fully developed Science and Technology Park could create more than 5,700 jobs.

Holy Cross Hospital is one of the largest hospitals in the state of Maryland with more than 30,000 annual admissions. Holy Cross Hospital is a faith-based, mission-driven teaching hospital serving the residents of Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties. The hospital is a member of Trinity Health of Novi, Michigan, one of the nation’s largest Catholic health care systems. ###