Bethesda, MD  (October 26, 2010) Suburban Hospital’s planned campus enhancement project is now on track to move forward thanks to a unanimous decision on October 20 by the Montgomery County Board of Appeals (BOA) to approve the hospital’s first major clinical expansion program in more than 30 years.

“This is great news for Suburban Hospital’s patients and the future of health care in our region,” said Suburban President Brian Gragnolati.

In particular, the Board’s approval means they had no objection to the closing of one block of Lincoln Street, which is essential for the project to move forward. The final decision on the closing of Lincoln Street rests with the County Council, which is expected to make a decision soon.  Other keys elements that were approved without conditions by the BOA include the placement and size of the new patient-care addition and parking garage.

One of the important conditions imposed by the BOA requires Suburban to apply for variances to keep some of the houses at the edges of the campus that the hospital had originally proposed to take down.

Suburban’s planned campus enhancement includes a new patient-care wing with private rooms, 15 replacement operating rooms, a new parking garage and 38,000 square feet of physician office space.

“We appreciate the thoughtful manner in which the Board of Appeals reviewed the considerable amount of material in the application,” said Brian Gragnolati. “We are also grateful to the thousands of Montgomery County residents who have expressed support for this important project.   We look forward to moving ahead quickly with the next steps.”

Suburban Hospital, a member of Johns Hopkins Medicine, is a not-for-profit, community-based hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, that has served Montgomery County and the surrounding area for more than 65 years. Suburban Hospital is distinguished by a cutting-edge stroke program; level II trauma center; centers of excellence in cardiac care, orthopedics and joint replacement surgery, neurosciences and oncology; state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment tools; and affiliations with world-class institutions, including the neighboring National Institutes of Health.  ###