Friday, January 29, 2016
University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health on Wednesday unveiled a $180 million plan to replace its Havre de Grace hospital and expand its Bel Air hospital.
The Harford County hospital system, which is part of University of Maryland Medical System, would replace University of Maryland Harford Memorial Hospital in Havre de Grace with a new hospital on a 97-acre property at Bulle Rock owned by the hospital. The new, 190,000-square-foot hospital will be called University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center - Havre de Grace and is expected to open in 2020, pending legislative and regulatory approval.
The plan also calls for a $60 million, 52,000-square-foot expansion to University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air that will add 32 beds, for a total of 212.
The plan to replace the Havre de Grace hospital, rather than renovating it, and to expand the Bel Air hospital, reflects the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake’s need to reshape both the way doctors care for patients and the resources available to them.
"Our newest plans for Havre de Grace and the Bulle Rock property represent a different approach for the health care industry; one that is critically important to improving our community’s overall quality of health care and achieving UM UCH’s vision of creating the healthiest community in Maryland," CEO Lyle E. Sheldon said in a statement. "That is what drives us today, and is our vision for tomorrow.”
The new hospital will be smaller and have fewer beds — 194,000 square feet with 52 beds, compared to Harford Memorial’s 279,400 square feet and 84 beds. But it will expand access to mental health and behavioral health services, for which the health system has seen a significant growth in demand over the last several years. The hospital will include a state-of-the-art treatment center for adults with mental illness and substance abuse, and 40 behavioral health beds, up from 26 at Harford Memorial.
The new hospital will also expand prevention and wellness services, doctors offices and other outpatient services, such as diagnostic testing, imaging and lab work.
bizjournals.com
