Einstein-Montgomery hospital opponents withdraw opposition Posted on July 23rd
Neighborhood opponents of a new hospital in Montgomery County’s East Norriton Township have withdrawn two legal challenges to the project, according to Richard Montalbano, vice president and project executive for Albert Einstein Healthcare Network.
Einstein and Montgomery Hospital are working together to build a new $300 million, 192-bed hospital at Germantown Pike and North Whitehall Road.
Two people who live near the proposed facility had filed challenges to a change in zoning regulations, based on the way township supervisors held hearings on the issue. After the complaints were filed, the township held a new hearing, on July 12, then reaffirmed its decision to change zoning on the 84-acre site the two hospitals plan to buy, Montalbano said.
The land had been zoned institutional and commercial. All of it is institutional now, a change that allows the hospital to build closer to Germantown Pike and farther from neighboring houses, he said.
Einstein earlier this month filed its own suit, seeking information about whether someone was secretly funding the neighbors’ suit.
Mercy Health System admitted last week that it had financially backed the zoning challenges. Mercy owns Mercy Suburban Hospital, which is about two miles from the proposed hospital. Its spokeswoman said last week that Mercy has been concerned that residents of Norristown will suffer because Montgomery Hospital plans to stop providing most services in Norristown when the new hospital opens.
Neil Stein, the lawyer who represents the neighborhood residents, did not immediately return a phone call today.Montalbano said that the stated reason for withdrawing the suits was that the July hearing had corrected procedural errors.
He said Einstein plans to continue pursuing its suit over the financing of the challenges.
The township’s planning commission is scheduled to begin consideration of the hospitals’ plans tonight, Montalbano said.
Contact staff writer Stacey Burling at 215-854-4944 or sburling@phillynews.com.
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