Dorchester Residents Turn Out in Force for Presentation on Proposed UM Shore Medical Campus at Cambridge
At the podium is Donna Jacobs, senior vice president, Government, Regulatory Affairs and Community Health for University of Maryland Medical System. Shown left to right are UM SRH panelists Barbara Hendricks, Ruth Ann Jones, Walter Atha, MD, Bob Frank, William Huffner, MD and Ken Kozel.
Approximately 150 community residents, county and city officials, and representatives of various community, business and health organizations attended UM Shore Regional Health's public meeting, "UM Shore Medical Campus at Cambridge - Our Vision for the Future," held Tuesday evening, July 31, at Cambridge-South Dorchester High School.
UM Shore Regional Health President and CEO Ken Kozel opened the meeting by welcoming those in attendance. Following Kozel's remarks, Richard Loeffler, chairman, Strategic Planning Committee for the UM SRH Board of Directors, Ricky Travers, Dorchester County Council president, Victoria Jackson-Stanley, Mayor of Cambridge, and Roger Harrell, Dorchester County Health Officer, offered statements expressing their support for UM Shore Regional Health's proposed plan.
Describing the plan in detail was a panel presentation led by Ken Kozel and including UM SRH representatives William Huffner, MD, chief medical officer and senior vice president, Medical Affairs, Ruth Ann Jones, chief nursing officer and vice president, Nursing and Patient Care Services, Bob Frank, vice president, Operations, Walter Atha, MD, medical director, Emergency Services, and Barbara Hendricks, director, Human Resources. Their commentary accompanied by a detailed PowerPoint presentation on the plans, timeline and approval processes involved in realizing the proposed UM Shore Medical Center at Cambridge and UM Shore Medical Pavilion at Cambridge at Cambridge Marketplace on Route 50 at Woods Road.
The meeting also included an extensive Q & A session during which attendees submitted inquiries on various aspects of the proposal to members of the panel.
The PowerPoint, which is now available for viewing on the UM Shore Regional Health website covers the following topics:
- The conversion of Shore Medical Center at Dorchester to a freestanding medical facility
- How emergency care will be delivered and the community's identified health needs will be met
- The proposed UM Shore Medical Campus at Cambridge
- Reasons for the change and what it means for the community
- Investments to improve and enhance health care services in Dorchester County and the surrounding area
- Campus development plans
- Timeline