UM Upper Chesapeake Health Opens Aberdeen Medical Center and Bel Air Patient Bed Tower; Harford Memorial Hospital Closes

University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health (UM UCH), a member organization of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), today took the next steps in transforming health care delivery in Harford County. At 7 a.m., UM Upper Chesapeake Medical Center Aberdeen and the Patient Bed Tower at UM Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air welcomed patients to their new state-of-the-art facilities.

At the same time, UM Harford Memorial Hospital in Havre de Grace ended providing care to patients after serving the community for 112 years. Patients were transferred to the Bel Air or Aberdeen campuses.

"Today is an important day in the history of health care in Harford County and northeastern Maryland," said Elizabeth Wise, FACHE, MSN, MBA, President and Chief Executive Officer UM UCH. "The opening of the Medical Center in Aberdeen and the Patient Bed Tower in Bel Air demonstrate University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health's commitment to the right care, at the right time, at the right location. While it's sad to close UM Harford Memorial Hospital to patient care, we know the new, state-of-the-art facilities in Aberdeen and Bel Air will ensure our community receives the most advanced health services."

Thirty-six patients were transferred by ambulance from UM Harford Memorial Hospital. Nineteen patients went to UM Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air. Twelve patients in the UM Harford Memorial Hospital Behavioral Health Department were transferred to the Behavioral Health Pavilion in Aberdeen. Five patients were transferred to the Emergency Department at Aberdeen. The patient transfers began at 7:28 AM and were completed at 1:40 PM. "Today marks a pivotal moment for the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health and for our System, and reflects several years of strategic planning and conversations with community leaders, members of the faith-based community, first responders, thought leaders and elected officials," said Mohan Suntha, MD, MBA, President and CEO of UMMS. "This is a transformational effort at re-shaping the future of health care delivery in Harford County."

The 130,000-square foot UM Upper Chesapeake Medical Center Aberdeen, located just six miles from the Harford Memorial Hospital campus, provides a cutting-edge Emergency Department, observation care area and a helipad for transfers to the University of Maryland Medical Center for patients who need critical advanced care. Features include a modern telehealth system in each patient room for better monitoring and specialty care consultation; select Emergency Department rooms designed to geriatric standards with padded floors, larger fonts on signs, warm colors, brighter lighting and located directly adjacent to the nurses' station; large conference rooms available for community use; LED lighting with automatic dimming controls; and a helipad for quick transfers.

Also on site are a Behavioral Health Pavilion providing both inpatient and outpatient care and a 93,000-square foot Health and Wellness Center offering a range of clinical services including primary care, endocrinology and diabetes care, cardiology, hematology and oncology, infusion services, wound care, orthopedics, physical therapy and rehabilitation. Imaging and lab services will be added later in the month.

In Bel Air, a three-story, 75,000-square foot patient bed tower at UM Upper Chesapeake Medical Center was constructed on the top of the existing Kaufman Cancer Center at the hospital and includes 72 patient beds (42 observation and 30 inpatient). The 42 observation rooms are double-occupancy and include a private bathroom for each patient.

For more information about UM UCH, visit www.umms.org/uch.

About University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health

University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health, part of the University of Maryland Medical System, includes the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center and the Patricia D. and M. Scot Kaufman Cancer Center on its Bel Air campus. University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center Aberdeen includes a state-of-the-art Emergency Department, Behavioral Health Pavilion and Health and Wellness Center. The Klein Family Center in Bel Air offers services for behavioral health. The Senator Bob Hooper House in Forest Hill is an assisted living facility that specializes in hospice. The leading health care system and the second largest private employer in Harford County, UM Upper Chesapeake Health offers a broad range of health care services, specialty care, technology and facilities to the residents of northeastern Maryland. Visit www.umms.org/uch for more information.

About the University of Maryland Medical System

The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is an academic private health system, focused on delivering compassionate, high quality care and putting discovery and innovation into practice at the bedside. Partnering with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland, Baltimore who educate the state's future health care professionals, UMMS is an integrated network of care, delivering 25 percent of all hospital care in urban, suburban and rural communities across the state of Maryland. UMMS puts academic medicine within reach through primary and specialty care delivered at 11 hospitals, including the flagship University of Maryland Medical Center, the System's anchor institution in downtown Baltimore, as well as through a network of University of Maryland Urgent Care centers and more than 150 other locations in 13 counties. For more information, visit www.umms.org.