Updated to include information via press release by Adventist HealthCare.
Adventist HealthCare Germantown Emergency, a stand-alone emergency care center that has served thousands of residents in upper Montgomery County each year, will permanently close this summer.
We were recently informed that staff were l notified of the upcoming closure, and a representative confirmed the decision on Sunday evening, stating that the facility will shut down “this summer.” An exact closing date has not yet been announced.
Located at 19731 Germantown Road, the emergency center sits just west of I-270 across from Germantown Town Center along Route 118. The site operates as a freestanding emergency department, offering the same level of emergency medical care patients would receive at a hospital emergency room, but in a smaller, standalone facility.
According to information on the facility’s website, the center serves approximately 36,000 residents each year and was designed to improve access to emergency care for people living in upper Montgomery County. Patients who require hospital admission are transferred to Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center or other nearby hospitals. The Germantown facility is staffed by board-certified emergency physicians along with roughly 30 specially trained nurses and support staff.
Press Release by Adventist Healthcare: “ After careful consideration, Adventist HealthCare has decided to close its Germantown Emergency Center on July 1, pending state approvals. The change will allow the system to better direct access and serve patients at Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center in Rockville.
Employees of the Germantown Emergency Center have been invited to remain with Adventist HealthCare and serve patients in Rockville or its other locations.
The decision comes after a decade of declining volume at the center, which is one of seven freestanding emergency rooms in Maryland. The number of patients using Germantown Emergency Center has dropped by a third in recent years after peaking at 36,000 visits. Also, cases have transitioned to mostly lower–acuity conditions that could be treated at primary or urgent care rather than a full-service emergency room.
Adventist HealthCare opened Germantown Emergency Center in 2006. Since then, the healthcare landscape in Germantown has developed substantially. The community now has its own acute-care hospital 2 miles away and numerous urgent care sites that serve residents.
When Germantown Emergency Center opened, the 24/7emergency room filled a gap in acute-care health services in upper Montgomery County. It operated as an extension of Shady Grove Medical Center, providing convenient access to patients in upper Montgomery County who might later be transferred for inpatient care in Rockville.
Adventist HealthCare remains deeply committed to upper Montgomery County residents and will continue to servethem in Germantown. The health system has offices for primary care, cardiac specialty care and imaging in thecommunity, as well as a partnership with a Patriot Urgent Care center in Germantown. Shady Grove Medical Center is 9 miles away and remains ready to care for patients who need its comprehensive acute–care services, including adult and specialized pediatric emergency care, heart and vascular care, surgery, obstetrics, and pediatrics. In June, Shady Grove Medical Center will open a new building anchored by a state-of-the-art emergency room.
“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. “We are grateful to have led the way in bringing life-saving care to Germantown residents, launching theabundance of health services that serve this wonderful community today.”
