Adventist HealthCare Announces HQ Move to Gaithersburg

Adventist HealthCare will move its headquarters—and more than 300 employees—to a rented space on W. Diamond Avenue, officials announced at tonight's Mayor and Council meeting at City Hall.

Assistant City Manager Tony Tomasello said the move will include the first disbursement from the Economic Development Opportunity Fund, a pool of money set aside during an austere fiscal 2009 to entice businesses to locate or expand in the city.

The city will pay $2 for each of the 80,000 square feet of leased space, bringing the total disbursement to $160,000, Tomasello said.

This, however, is contingent on the City Council's final approval at their meeting in two weeks.

Adventist HealthCare's headquarters, currently located at 1801 Research Boulevard in Rockville, will move to three rented floors of an office building at 820 W. Diamond Ave. in 2013. The building also houses MDA Information Systems Inc., which received business incentive money from Gaithersburg's other economic development fund, the Toolbox.

William G. Robertson, Adventist's President and CEO, said he and everyone who works at the headquarters is excited about the move.

"One thing we're looking forward to is that we can actually walk to places to get lunch," he said.

He added that the partnership between Adventist HealthCare and the City of Gaithersburg goes back decades, beginning with the city issuing a bond for the construction of Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in 1979, Robertson said.

"Shady Grove Adventist Hospital wouldn't exist today without the help of Gaithersburg," he said.

Robertson joked that there was another, less obvious incentive for the move.

"I understand your snow plows work very well here. That's important to us as we're a 24/7 health care operation," he said.

The new space will be built out with environmental LEED standards in mind, and with a modern, open design, Robertson said.

Tomasello said Adventist HealthCare approached the city four or five months ago with the understanding that there was incentive funding available.

"They certainly knew it existed," he said, referring to the Economic Development Opportunity Fund. "They were interested in getting an incentive."

Adventist HealthCare employs more than 6,000 people and is Montgomery County's largest private employer, Tomasello said. 

Robertson added that the regional health care provider takes care of 400,000 patients each year.