Groundbreaking Held for New Hospital in Cumberland

Pictured breaking ground for the new hospital are (from left) Tom Dowdell, WMHS Senior VP, COO; Kim Repac, WMHS Senior VP, CFO; Lee Fiedler, Mayor of Cumberland; Bob Wyatt, Senior VP, Barton Malow (construction management firm); Rolf Haarstad, Principal Architect, Hord Coplan Macht (architects); Barry P. Ronan, WMHS President/CEO; Kevin Turley, WMHS VP, Planning and Construction Administration; Kathy Burkey, Chair, WMHS Board of Directors; Don Moran, Chairman, WMHS Capital Campaign; Karen Johnson, Executive Director, WMHS Foundation; James Stakem, Allegany County Commissioner; Robert Hutcheson, Allegany County Commissioner; George Edwards, Maryland House of Delegates; Roscoe Bartlett, Congressman, Sixth District.

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A ceremonial groundbreaking for a new regional medical center in Cumberland, Maryland, was held on Wednesday, October 25. The Western Maryland Health System is building the new hospital to replace its two current facilities, Memorial Hospital of Cumberland and Sacred Heart Hospital.

The new hospital is designed by Hord Coplan Macht (HCM), a Baltimore-based architecture and landscape architecture firm. An intensive planning process, led by HCM and involving more than 300 members of the health system's physicians, administrators and staff, informed the design.

The first three levels of the seven-story, approximately 585,000 square-foot hospital will be devoted to diagnostics and treatment departments, with the upper floors functioning as a 275-bed inpatient tower.

The Willowbrook Road location was chosen for a variety of reasons, one of which was its easy access for patients, visitors, physicians and staff. It is easily accessible from Interstate 68, and there are also multiple access routes to this site in lieu of the interstate. It also has good access from public transportation.

Another advantage to this location is its close proximity to Allegany College of Maryland and the Allegany County Health Department. The Health System currently works closely with both of these organizations this partnership will be enhanced by creating a "medical complex" that will combine patient care, public health services, and health career training in one central location.

A joint venture of Barton Malow/Mascaro was selected as the construction manager for the WMHS Regional Medical Center. Preliminary site work is underway and the completion date for the new hospital is Fall 2009.

About Western Maryland Health System
The Western Maryland Health System (WMHS) was formed in April 1996 by the affiliation of Memorial Hospital of Cumberland and Sacred Heart Hospital with the goal to expand and enhance the region's healthcare services by working cooperatively. Additional information about WMHS is available at www.wmhs.com.

About Hord Coplan Macht
Hord Coplan Macht is a Baltimore-based architecture and landscape architecture firm that specializes in healthcare design, programming, and master planning. In addition to Western Maryland Health System, the firm is working with Sinai Hospital, Northwest Hospital, Kernan Hospital and Maryland General Hospital, among others. More information is available at www.hcm2.com.

About Barton Malow
Barton Malow Company provides construction management, program management, design/build, general contracting, technology and rigging services. The company specializes in meeting the construction needs of health care, educational, industrial, energy, and special event facility owners nationwide. Barton Malow is headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, and has operations offices in Atlanta, Georgia; Baltimore, Maryland; Charlottesville, Virginia; Chicago, Illinois; Columbus, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; Jacksonville, Florida; Orlando, Florida; and Phoenix, Arizona. For more information, visit Barton Malow at www.bartonmalow.com.

About Mascaro
Mascaro Construction Company, LP, provides general contracting, construction management, and design/build services to the commercial, institutional, power, industrial, and highway markets. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For more information, visit Mascaro Construction at www.mascaroconstruction.com.