University of Maryland Medical Center Midtown Campus Receives Regulatory Approval For New Ambulatory Care Center

New Regional Center of Excellence for Population Health Improvement and Chronic Disease Management will Address Vital Healthcare Needs

Baltimore – University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) President and CEO Mohan Suntha, MD, MBA, and E. Albert Reece, MD, MBA, PhD, Dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM), announced today that UMMC has received regulatory approval for a new regional center of excellence for population health improvement and chronic disease management at the UMMC Midtown Campus. The new 10-story, 200,000 square foot ambulatory care center is a partnership between UMMC and UM SOM, and will provide vital outpatient and care coordination services to address the needs of patients with chronic diseases.

"This new state-of-the-art ambulatory care center will meet the long-term health care needs of our community, the region and the state," said Suntha. "We are committed to responding to critical patient needs in the community and implementing new models of care to meet evolving health care demands."

The center will enhance patients' access to care for chronic diseases, improving their health outcomes and reducing their need for frequent hospital admissions. The result will be improved quality of care for patients and lower overall associated health care costs. The center will also help address the significant health disparities among residents of Baltimore for chronic illnesses such as diabetes, asthma, obesity, HIV, cardiovascular disease and hypertension, providing greatly needed primary medical care and sub-specialty care for these patients.

"The new center is the ideal blend of academic and community medicine in the outpatient setting," said Reece, who is also the Vice President for Medical Affairs at the University of Maryland, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor. "This is just the latest in a series of efforts we are undertaking to improve the health of our community."

The center will be located at the intersection of Madison Avenue and Linden Avenue, at the site of the current Gatch Building on Linden Avenue, which is scheduled for demolition in spring 2017. The new building will consist of five clinical floors and five floors for parking. Critically needed specialty outpatient services will include diabetes and endocrinology, infectious disease, pulmonary disease, cardiac care, and gastrointestinal care. A Community Health Education Center will provide patients with disease-specific health information as well as education about lifestyle habits for improved health. A conference center will also be located in the new building. Services will be provided by the University of Maryland School of Medicine faculty physicians, as well as community physicians.

Construction on the new center is expected to begin this summer, with a projected opening in 2019.

About the University of Maryland Medical Center

The University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) is comprised of two hospitals in Baltimore: an 800-bed teaching hospital — the flagship institution of the 12-hospital University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) — and a 200-bed community teaching hospital, UMMC Midtown Campus. UMMC is a national and regional referral center for trauma, cancer care, neurocare, cardiac care, diabetes and endocrinology, women's and children's health and has one of the largest solid organ transplant programs in the country. All physicians on staff at the flagship hospital are faculty physicians of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. At UMMC Midtown Campus, faculty physicians work alongside community physicians to provide patients with the highest quality care. UMMC Midtown Campus was founded in 1881 and is located one mile away from the University Campus hospital.

About the University of Maryland School of Medicine

Celebrating its 210th Anniversary, the University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 and is the first public medical school in the United States and continues today as an innovative leader in accelerating innovation and discovery in medicine. The School of Medicine is the founding school of the University of Maryland and is an integral part of the 11-campus University System of Maryland. Located on the University of Maryland's Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine works closely with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide a research-intensive, academic and clinically based education. With 43 academic departments, centers and institutes and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians and research scientists plus more than $400 million in extramural funding, the School is regarded as one of the leading biomedical research institutions in the U.S. with top-tier faculty and programs in cancer, brain science, surgery and transplantation, trauma and emergency medicine, vaccine development and human genomics, among other centers of excellence. The School is not only concerned with the health of the citizens of Maryland and the nation, but also has a global presence, with research and treatment facilities in more than 35 countries around the world. www.medschool.umaryland.edu

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