UM SRH Submits State Applications to Transform Health Care In Dorchester County

Representing a significant step in a process that began more than two years ago, University of Maryland Shore Regional Health (UM SRH) has filed applications with the Maryland Health Care Commission (MHCC) seeking approval to transform and enhance the health care services offered in Dorchester County.

The filing, called a Request for Certificate of Need Exemption, describes plans to replace UM Shore Medical Center at Dorchester with a new, state-of-the-art health care campus offering the following services:

• 24/7 emergency care and short-stay observation care
• Proposed outpatient surgery center
• Diagnostic services
• Outpatient specialty medical care
• Chronic disease management services
• Telemedicine
• Enhanced outpatient behavioral health programs and services

A free public information session explaining this proposal in detail is scheduled Tuesday, July 31, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm, at Cambridge-South Dorchester High School. At this session, officials will share the proposed plans for this new medical campus that will include a Freestanding Medical Facility (FMF), to be known as University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Cambridge.

Proposed Location

Cambridge Marketplace, at Ocean Gateway (Route 50) and Woods Road approximately one mile from the current hospital. This location provides enhanced access to public transportation and ambulances and provides for an adjacent helipad for air transports.

Proposed Timeline

The opening of the new UM Shore Medical Center at Cambridge and the relocation of acute care inpatient beds to Easton is mid-2021, depending upon both State approval and funding.

Over the past two years, UM SRH discussed the changing health care environment with Dorchester County physicians, elected officials, Emergency Medical Services, public health and other health care partners, and community business leaders. These discussions expanded to the wider Dorchester community through a series of community listening sessions in 2017. With positive feedback from these conversations, the Boards of University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) and UM SRH moved forward with more detailed plans, leading to this month's applications.

With regulatory approvals, this new model of care will enhance the hospital's ability to ensure services are available, keeping residents healthy in their community and reducing unnecessary inpatient admissions and emergency room visits. This model also allows for the potential to provide ambulatory surgical care and intensive outpatient behavioral health treatment.

Plans for the sale and ultimate redevelopment of the existing hospital site moved forward in May when the City of Cambridge and Dorchester County created a Memorandum of Understanding forming Cambridge Waterfront Development, Inc. (CWDI), designed to purchase the property, prepare it for development and negotiate its sale by 2021. In June June, as UM SRH CEO Ken Kozel, Cambridge Mayor Victoria Jackson-Stanley, and Dorchester County Council President Ricky Travers signed a Letter of Intent for continued negotiations leading to the future sale of the hospital property to CWDI when health care services transfer to Cambridge Marketplace.

Another milestone was the filing of a Letter of Intent to submit a Certificate of Need (CON) for a future replacement hospital in Easton. Filing the Letter of Intent indicates that UM SRH may file a CON in the September window of opportunity (September 7, 2018), with approval of the UM SRH and UMMS Boards.

SUMMARY: Proposed UM Shore Medical Center at Cambridge

Approximately 40,000 square foot state-of-the-art Freestanding Medical Facility (FMF), open 24/7/365, to include:

• 18 private emergency treatment rooms serving all ages
• 2-bed resuscitation/critical care suite, serving all ages
• 3 behavioral health rooms
• 10 private short stay observation beds
• Telemedicine capabilities for Emergency Department patient specialist consultation
• State-of-the-art diagnostic/treatment equipment and technology
• Diagnostic services to support emergency care, including CT, MRI, ultrasound and X-ray
• Laboratory services, 24/7
• Helipad for air transport

SUMMARY: Proposed Services – UM Shore Medical Pavilion at Cambridge

Approximately 50,000 square foot, two story facility housing diagnostic, treatment, community education and support services, including:

• Outpatient services/providers in specialties such as cardiology, diabetes/endocrinology, ENT (ear, nose, throat, allergy), gastroenterology, general surgery, gynecology, obstetrics (prenatal care), orthopedics, outpatient behavioral health, outpatient medical oncology, pediatrics and urology
• Ambulatory Surgery Center (1 OR and 1 procedure room)
• Outpatient rehabilitation services, including The Balance Center
• Cardio-pulmonary rehabilitation
• Fully integrated telemedicine services for specialist access
• Community health education hub