Regional Hospital Proposal

Update - December 12, 2006

Einstein - Montgomery Hospital has signed a letter of intent to acquire land on Alan Wood Road in Plymouth Township. Alan Wood Road is just west of the Ridge Pike interchange of the Blue Route and is home to IKEA, Home Depot and BJ's.

A letter of intent is a precursor to an agreement of sale. Its strength as a precursor can range from very weak to very strong. This one was characterized as a "serious letter of intent".

That being said, transactions of this size are complicated and can take time. The parties are hoping to reach an agreement of sale by the end of January, 2007, and will let us know if and when an agreement is reached.

From a land planning and health care provisioning standpoint, Einstein - Montgomery should be congratulated on this choice of site. If a sale is consummated, they will be in a commercial district not adjacent to any residential neighborhoods. The site is less than half a mile from one existing and one planned interstate interchanges and less than two miles from two others. If built, the new medical center will be slightly closer to Main and DeKalb Streets in Norristown than Mercy Suburban Hospital and it will be a short drive from anywhere in Whitpain.

For news coverage, please visit our media page.

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In March 2006, representatives of Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT) and the Einstein Healthcare Network unveiled plans (available here) for a regional healthcare complex to be built on the Unisys site.

If built, the +/- 2 million square foot complex would include:

A 250-bed advanced Regional Medical Center.
A helicopter landing pad.
A 350,000 square foot medical office building.
Four additional office buildings for general or medical office use.
Five parking garages.

Many members of the community feared that the proposal would be a significant change from our present mix of low density land uses. We joined together as WhitpainResidents.org to learn more about the potential impact of the proposal and to then take appropriate action. The results of our research are available here.

We have since expanded our mission to focus on maintaining our township's quality of life by advocating for responsible development throughout Whitpain. If you are a voting age resident who wants Whitpain to remain a great place to live, please join us and keep apprised of our efforts by filling out our membership form.