Shady Grove Adventist Presents Plans For Expansion

would like to double its building space on the Shady Grove Adventist Medical Center campus. 

The parent company of Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, Adventist Rehabilitation Hospital of Maryland and Adventist Behavioral Health, submitted its ten to fifteen year vision of its 40 acre campus to the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission earlier this month, in accordance with the Great Seneca Science Cooridor Master Plan. On Tuesday, project architect Tim Duffy, presented the subdivision and concept plans for the area between Broschart Rd. and Medical Center Dr. to the Great Seneca Science Corridor Master Plan Implementation Advisory Committee.

The plans include the addition of more than 800,000 square feet, bringing the total occupied space up from the current 523,480 square feet to more than 1.3 million square feet, and the increase of the floor area ratio (FAR) allowance, from the current 0.31 to 0.67.

In addition to expansions to the existing hospitals, the plans include the addition of a health and wellness center, a diagnostic and outpatient services building, an oncology services building, the cancer institute and four additional parking structures. Duffy said they expect the health and wellness center and the diagnostic and outpatient services building to be the two tallest structures, which would be allowed to reach a maximum of 95 feet and would sit along Broschart Rd. and Medical Center Dr. respectively.

But don't expect to see any of these changes soon. The majority of the expansion plans could take more than ten years to be realized, said Robby Brewer, Adventist's longtime attorney.

Only the cancer institute building is in the active planning stage. Brewer said he expects the site plan ammendment for that 50,000 square foot building to be filed in "the next month or two."

Given that long time frame of the plans, Brewer said they are not able to estimate how many additional people the expansion would bring to the area. But an extensive study of the impact on local traffic is a part of the concept plan.

The plan also includes a focusing of mixed-use, high-rise buildings around the Corridor Cities Transitway (CCT) station, which is expected to run along Broschart Rd.

Although the master plan the amount of commercial space that can be built in the Life Sciences Cooridor until funding is secured for at least the first half of the CCT, health providers are exempt. So the Adventist's plans could move forward, whether or not the state decides to fund the CCT.

The Development Review Committee recently reviewed Adventist's plans and made comments. The committee, which is made up of representatives from relevent public agencies and utilities, brought up several issuincluding, vehicular and pedestrian circulation around campus and the accomodation so the CCT (cross-county connector.). 

Brewer said he expects the hospital to submit its revised plans by late summer or early fall. Then a public hearing would be scheduled and staff would draft the final report.

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly identified Adventist HealthCare.