Gaithersburg Family Repeats Its Generosity with $1 Million Gift to Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center Tower
ROCKVILLE, Md. – Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center has received a $1 million gift from businessman and philanthropist Conrad V. Aschenbach in memory of his wife, Lois. The gift will help the hospital fund a six-story patient tower, which is currently under construction to upgrade emergency and critical-care spaces.
The donation is the second transformative gift that the Aschenbach family has made to emergency services at Shady Grove Medical Center. In 1993, Conrad and Lois gave $500,000 to help expand and rename Shady Grove’s Emergency Department in memory of their son, Robert.
"The Aschenbach family has lived and thrived in the Gaithersburg area for decades. As President of the King Automotive Group, Conrad is a highly regarded business leader," explains a family spokesperson. "It’s important to him that we give back to the community. Contributing to a state-of-the-art patient tower means our gift will keep giving well into the future."
Shady Grove Medical Center’s tower project will bring 150,352 square feet of new care space and renovate another 25,696 square feet to enhance patient safety, patient experience, and clinical efficiency. In addition to a replacement for the Robert V. Aschenbach Emergency Department and other enhancements, the project will create all-private medical/surgical patient rooms. The Ron and Joy Paul Family Intensive Care Unit will bring added space for today’s critical care practices and flexibility for future public health emergencies.
"The tower will help shape the future of healthcare in Maryland," said Daniel Cochran, President of Shady Grove Medical Center. "Its state-of-the-art spaces will enhance quality, safety, and efficiency for our patients and team members. We are so very appreciative of the Aschenbach family for their extraordinary generosity today and in years past. Because of them, others in our community will be able to continue to access exceptional care right in their own backyards."
The hospital will name the Emergency Department waiting area in memory of Lois to acknowledge the Aschenbachs' commitment to the community. The waiting room will feature designs that maximize sunlight and views of nature, which evidence has shown can enhance and speed healing. The tower also reconfigures emergency spaces to enhance patient privacy, ease the work of care teams and reduce the distance between life-saving services in the hospital. "Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center is building next-level care, right next door, to make sure everyone in our community can access the very best healthcare,” adds Cochran. "Conrad Aschenbach is helping us realize that vision in memory of his beloved wife, Lois. We're grateful for their longtime support of Shady Grove and the people we serve."
