Date: November 3, 2020
Flag Raising ceremony at Aberdeen campus of University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health by Maryland based Commercial photographers Robin Sommer and Bill Rettberg of MidAtlantic Photographic LLC
University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health (UM UCH) marked the beginning of construction of its 60-acre Aberdeen campus with a flag raising ceremony October 27 supported by the American Legion Post #39 Honor Guard and UM UCH’s spiritual services and grounds team. In attendance were members of the UM UCH board of directors.
The University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center – Aberdeen campus will transform health care in the region by increasing access to services, coordinating efforts between hospital-based and community care providers and continuing to develop new models of care delivery supported by state-of-the-art technology.
“It’s hard to imagine that 20 years ago, we were moving into the new hospital in Bel Air. Now we are ready to begin work on our new campus in Aberdeen,” said Lyle E. Sheldon, FACHE, president/CEO of University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health. “I want to assure our community that despite the challenges of COVID-19, our medical staff and all our care providers stand united to deliver the best possible care to our community today and into the future. The lessons we have learned from this pandemic will be integrated into our planning and facility design.”
University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center – Aberdeen, located on Route 22 near the intersection of I-95, is expected to open in spring 2023. Designed and constructed by Erdman, a nationally recognized architecture and construction firm, the campus will have a combined square footage of 220,806 feet. It will feature:
Behavioral health pavilion/psychiatric hospital with inpatient behavioral health beds and a full array of critically needed inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services to serve the needs in the community.
Free standing medical facility with a full-service Emergency Department (ED), which offers twice the square footage of the current ED at UM Harford Memorial Hospital. It will feature triage rooms, emergency treatment rooms (with dedicated emergency behavioral health treatment rooms), observation beds (short-stay medical care beds) and shell space for expansion as needed. The facility will also include a diagnostic imaging suite, laboratory, pharmacy and other hospital support services.
Medical office building (in the existing office building) that will house offices for primary care and other medical and surgical specialties as well as additional outpatient services such as rehabilitation services, a comprehensive imaging center and an infusion center.
In addition, the expansion of UM Upper Chesapeake Medical Center – Bel Air has begun. It includes a parking expansion project to be completed next spring and an outpatient building which will include an ambulatory surgery center expected to open in early 2022. Three additional floors will be added above the Patricia D. and M. Scot Kaufman Cancer Center, providing an additional 80,000 square feet. One floor will have observation beds (for short stay medical care needs); one floor will have medical/surgical private rooms; and one floor will be designated for future needs of the Kaufman Cancer Center and medical/surgical bed expansion.
The Aberdeen and Bel Air projects, with an estimated cost of $228 million, are designed with the community’s health care needs in mind and will incorporate innovative, technological capabilities for care delivered to the community.
UM Harford Memorial Hospital in Havre de Grace will continue to operate until the new Aberdeen campus and the expansion in Bel Air are complete in spring 2023.
Project updates will be regularly posted on the Upper Chesapeake Health Facebook page and Twitter page pages and at umuch.org/newcampus.
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