County Executive Isiah Leggett will host a public meeting of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) subcabinet with top Maryland officials, including Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown, on Thursday, October 18 to discuss the impacts on Montgomery County of significant planned expansion at Bethesda Naval Hospital.

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley’s BRAC Subcabinet – chaired by Brown and comprised of nine State Cabinet Secretaries – will meet at the University of Maryland Shady Grove Campus from 10 to 11 a.m. The campus is located at 9630 Gudelsky Drive in Rockville. This is one in a series of public meetings to discuss the specific impacts of the Base Realignment and Closure process on the most impacted counties in the State.

Of particular significance to Montgomery County will be the creation of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, a consolidation of Army and Navy Medical Centers on the campus of the Bethesda Naval Hospital. The consolidation will bring several thousand new jobs to the Bethesda campus and could double the current outpatient load. Construction of the new facility is scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2011.

Leggett and County planning and transportation officials will detail the impacts of the BRAC move on Montgomery County, particularly relative to traffic, and will brief the group on proposals to mitigate the impacts, likely to include requests for State funding. Open discussion with the BRAC Subcabinet will follow, and the public will have an opportunity to comment and ask questions.

For information, call Phil Alperson, Montgomery County BRAC Coordinator, at 240-777-2595 or at phil.alperson@montgomerycountymd.gov.