Holy Cross Hospital (pictured) and Adventist Healthcare have competing bids to build a new hospital in northern Montgomery County. (Andrew Harnik/Examiner)
Posted on 10/15/2009 5:31:20 AM PDT by NYer
Pro-choice groups are battling a proposed new hospital in northern Montgomery County because of Catholic restrictions on abortion and contraceptives.
Both Holy Cross, a Catholic hospital in Silver Spring, and Adventist HealthCare of Takoma Park have submitted bids to Maryland to build hospitals in upper Montgomery County, one of the fastest-growing areas in the region.
Holy Cross wants to build a 93-bed hospital on the Montgomery College campus in Germantown, whileAdventist wants to build a 100-bed in Clarksburg. The Maryland Health Care Commission is expected to pick between the competing proposals in the spring.
A coalition of women's group, including Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland, are lobbying the state and the county's elected officials against Holy Cross' proposal, saying its restrictions on elective abortions and sterilizations would limit the care available to upcounty residents.
"From our perspective, whatever hospital is built in Montgomery County needs to provide a full range of reproductive health services," said Laura Meyers, chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington.
Holy Cross advocates said the "vast majority" of procedures that Holy Cross won't perform, including birth control methods such as vasectomies, are available at outpatient facilities and not acute-care hospitals.
"The impact to the community will not be significant," said Dr. Ann Burke, director of obstetrics and gynecology at Holy Cross.
Burke added that the hospital has shown a "dedicated commitment" to lower-income patients and that more than 70 percent of uninsured women having children from upcounty give birth at Holy Cross' current location in Silver Spring. The hospital has the largest obstetric program in the state and has the only outpatient gynecology clinic for the uninsured, Burke added.
"We've proven in many respects that we are the better choice," Burke said.
Holy Cross supporters have pointed out that the hospital plans to self-finance the projected $267 million hospital, while Adventist would rely on fundraising to help pay for part of its $200 million project.
Adventist advocates have argued that Clarksburg is a better site for a hospital, because fewer medical services are available nearby and the site would cause less traffic congestion that the Germantown site.
The County Council has indicated that it plans to remain neutral while the state reviews the bids, but some council members have indicated that the state may not have the final say in the matter.
Councilman Marc Elrich, D-at large, said he views the state's decision as an indication of which location would be a better site to build a hospital, not necessarily which hospital should be built. He said he would not be "comfortable" giving Holy Cross permission to build on the Montgomery College campus.
"If I have to choose between two hospitals and one provides everything and the other does not meet women's needs, then my inclination would be to support the hospital that provides full services to county residents," Elrich said.
But Councilman Mike Knapp, D-Germantown, said he would like to see both hospitals built, and added that he hasn't heard from his constituents that abortion issues should be a major factor in deciding between the two hospitals.
They really do need to find their own country and move there until there are no more of them.
So, Building a hospital is restricting healthcare?............IDIOTS, MORONS AND LUNATICS!...............
Hey, it`s Pro abortion and Pro life, there is no middle ground!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So the hospital is being opposed on the religion of owners. I thought we had laws against that.
It’s on record: pro-abortionists are against hospitals and want sick people to die.
Exactly, this epitomizes the problems in Montgomery County and Maryland as a whole. Montgomery County is one of THE cesspools of liberalism/socialism - you couldn’t pay me to live there.
I like the fact that they don’t care about the “funding” issues too. Holy Cross is self funding, in other words, no tax money or loans.
Interesting argument...I like it!
Planned Parenthood declared that it would "play a unique role in this administration."
Somebody, please follow the money. ACORN is a pimple on Planned Parenthood's ass.
Same thing for years in Portland.
We need to separate them from us
at the state boundaries.
Little premature talking about building a new hospital when the bishops have threatened to shut them all down if abortion is in the health care bill.
Why don’t they just allow both facilities? You’ll have one pro-life hospital and one pro-”choice” hospital.
As far as NARAL and Planned Parenthood go, they’d apparently rather have no hospital than one with abortion restrictions. The abortion lobby can [censored] my [censored].
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
We could send them to a muslim country to preach “choice” and tolerance, and see what happens.
This has to be 1 of the most asinine things I’ve heard.
Opposing a hospital - because it doesn’t perform something that is NOT medically necessary.
These jerks are so spoiled, having so many hospitals already. Nice to be able to “choose” rather than be a beggar.
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