MedStar Health adding Montgomery General Hospital to its system

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Feb 1, 2008 by Karen Buckelew

Ninety-year-old Montgomery General Hospital officially gives up its independence Friday, becoming the eighth hospital in the MedStar Health system.

At the same time, Columbia-based MedStar and Montgomery General officials are celebrating the groundbreaking of the hospital's $30 million expansion, adding a new emergency department and upgraded private rooms.

The facility, with its 149 beds, is MedStar's first in Montgomery County, and its setting in Olney is a departure from the system's other hospitals, located in Baltimore and Washington.

"MedStar predominantly is located in urban areas," said Margery Zylich, a MedStar spokeswoman. "This gives us a very important suburban location, and it's just outside of Washington in a fast- growing area."

All of Montgomery General's 1,250 employees will remain in place, including CEO Peter Monge and its 17-member board. MedStar is planning no major changes, Zylich said.

Montgomery General last March announced it was seeking a merger partner, and considered 14 possibilities, including Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, before settling on MedStar, said spokeswoman Lynne Myers.

The hospital had been considering a merger for some time, and began strategic planning in 2005.

"We felt we were in a strong position financially," Myers said. "If there was ever a time to [decide on a merger] one way or another, that was the time, while we were in a position of strength."

The deal, a non-cash transaction, gives Montgomery General access to MedStar's resources, including its $3 billion in net patient revenue in fiscal 2007. By comparison, Montgomery General earned $121 million in patient revenue last year.

It also brings to Montgomery General the experience of practitioners and administrators at MedStar's other seven hospitals, all of which regularly work together to develop best practices.

"There will be lots more brains thinking through our issues," said Myers.

The merger also should allow the hospital to increase its clinical research and medical training programs, particularly with academic medical center Georgetown University Hospital so close by.

Montgomery County Council member George Leventhal, an at-large Democrat who chairs the Health and Human Services Committee, said the rest of the county's hospitals also are going through changes, including Washington Adventist's proposed move from Takoma Park to White Oak.

"I hope Montgomery General will continue to serve the community," Leventhal said. "I hope and trust they're making the wise decision to expand access to health care."

MedStar's system also encompasses Franklin Square, Good Samaritan, Harbor, Sinai and Union Memorial hospitals in Baltimore, and Washington Hospital Center.