Adventist HealthCare’s Germantown Emergency Center will close July 1 due to a decrease in the number of patients served there. The health care facility will refocus efforts at its Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center in Rockville.
According to a news release, “after careful consideration,” the Germantown center will be shuttered, pending state approval. Employees are expected to remain with Adventist but move to Rockville or other locations.
“The decision comes after a decade of declining volume at the center, which is one of seven freestanding emergency rooms in Maryland. ”
Patients using the Germantown Emergency Center has dropped by a third in recent years after peaking at 36,000 visits, according to the news release. Cases have “transitioned to mostly lower-acuity conditions that could be treated at primary or urgent care rather than a full-service emergency room,” according to the news release.
“I am disappointed to see the pending closure of the Adventist emergency room in Germantown,” said Council Vice President Marilyn Balcombe, whose district includes the emergency center. “Although the number of patients at the center has been declining, I’m concerned that ER wait times at neighboring hospitals will increase.”
She added, “This emergency room was opened before the Holy Cross hospital opened in Germantown and filled a critical health care need. We will miss their excellent service, and I will work with Holy Cross and Shady Grove Adventist Health Medical Center to step up their ER availability to make sure this closure does not leave a gap.”
The center opened in 2006 to serve upper Montgomery County. In 2014, Holy Cross Hospital opened as an acute-care facility.
Adventist HealthCare’s offices for primary care, cardiac specialty care and imaging will remain in Germantown.
“Germantown Emergency Center’s 20 years of exceptional care will leave a lasting legacy,” said Dan Cochran, president of Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center.
According to its website, the Germantown Emergency Center serves 22,000 residents a year and is staffed is staffed by a team of board-certified emergency physicians and approximately 30 specially trained nurses and staff.
