Frequently Asked Questions about the Capital Campaign

Need for a New Hospital

Why is WMHS building a new hospital when we have two "perfectly good" hospitals in Cumberland?
Although the two hospitals are structurally sound, they require more than $25 million in improvements to their infrastructures, including upgraded heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems; electrical systems; water distribution systems; fire alarm systems; and elevators. Any renovations or changes that we would make would have to conform to today's regulatory codes for hospitals, which are quite different than they were when either hospital was built. It is projected that these requirements would increase the amount of investment needed to as much as $100 million and we still would have two hospitals that are not optimally designed for today's medical technology.

Why build a new hospital on Willowbrook Road? Why not just close one hospital and expand and modernize the other?
The WMHS Planning Committee looked closely at this option since it would be possible do to that at either hospital. The cost of expanding and modernizing Memorial Hospital far exceeded the cost of using Sacred Heart or building a new hospital. This was due to several factors, including the need to acquire nearby residential properties and to build "up" by adding more floors, which is very expensive. Also, we could not undertake this type of project without greatly disrupting patient care.

Expanding and modernizing Sacred Heart Hospital would cost nearly the same as building a new hospital, and half of our "modernized" hospital would be 40 years old by the time the project was completed. There are also significant storm water management issues and problems with limited roadway access at the Sacred Heart site.

Why was the Willowbrook Road site selected?
This location was chosen for a variety of reasons, one of which was its easy access for patients 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. We currently work closely with both of these organizations and believe we can enhance this partnership by creating a "medical complex" that will combine patient care, public health services, and health career training in one central location. This concept will enable us to enhance local healthcare resources and will be an attractive economic development tool for Allegany County as it strives to attract new businesses to our community.

How many beds will the new hospital have?
In our Certificate of Need application, we are requesting 275 beds. Although this is fewer beds than we have currently between both hospitals, it should meet our needs based on our projections and the state health plan. Our average daily census for fiscal year 2005 was 224 patients. That also includes an average of 17 patients per day in our Extended Care Unit, which is not planned for the new hospital.

Is there community support for the new hospital?
So far, reaction to our plans for a new hospital has been very positive. We have tried to keep the community informed about our plans and will continue to provide information to tri-state area residents. Our elected officials have expressed their support for the new hospital, and we also are working closely with them to make sure that they have current information about our plans.

Building Process

When will the new hospital be built? When will it be started? When will it be finished?
We plan to break ground for the new hospital in the spring of 2006 and the new hospital should be ready for patients about 36 months later, which would be spring 2009.

Has WMHS started to plan for the new hospital?
Planning is nearly complete for the new hospital, and over 300 employees and physicians worked on more than 30 teams to design the new facility. Preliminary sketches of the new hospital and its floor plan are available in the New Hospital Update section on the Health System's Website at www.wmhs.com.

Included in the plans for the new hospital is relocating the current Allegany County Health Department to the Willowbrook Office Complex, formerly the headquarters of the Kelly-Springfield Tire Company. Renovation work has already begun on the first two floors of the office building and the former tire testing facility to prepare the space for the Health Department. These renovations should be finished so that the Health Department can relocate in spring of 2006.

Information about these renovations is available at www.wmhs.com. Our Website will be updated as work progresses, both for the Health Department and the new hospital.

Where is WMHS in the CON process?
Before we can break ground for the new hospital, we must receive approval to build the new hospital from the Maryland Health Care Commission. We submitted our Certificate of Need (CON) application in April 2005. The Commission's reaction to our application to date has been very positive. We submitted some modifications to the applications in late June to adjust the project costs and provide additional information. The application was reviewed by the Commission for completeness and was docketed on August 19. This means that the official review of our application is now underway. We should have their decision in February 2006.

Is there room on Willowbrook Road to allow for future expansion?
There is room for potential expansion at the new site, as well as throughout that area. Willowbrook Road, the Williams Road corridor, and the adjoining areas have a great deal of space that could be developed in the future for other health-related activities.

Will there be adequate parking at the new hospital?
We have been working with a firm that specializes in parking management, and there is ample parking for patients and staff at the new hospital in our current plans. Approximately 2400 parking spaces are planned at the new site.

The Willowbrook Road area is already pretty busy. What about traffic management?
We realize that the new hospital on Willowbrook Road will increase traffic in that area, and we have been working with traffic engineers and city and state road officials to plan for the additional traffic. There is sufficient room to expand the lanes of traffic on Willowbrook Road to accommodate the increased traffic. We are exploring traffic circles to help manage traffic flow at the entrances to the new hospital.

Future of the Two Current Hospitals

What will happen to Memorial and Sacred Heart hospitals when the new hospital opens?
We are working with a committee from the Allegany County Chamber of Commerce to identify potential uses for both campuses. The Memorial Campus reverts back to the City of Cumberland, and the Mayor and City Council will determine how it can best be used in the future. We will be working with a company that specializes in the redevelopment of properties to find suitable uses for the Sacred Heart Campus. We are committed to finding an appropriate use for both hospitals that will benefit the community.

What will happen to the many offices that have been built near the current hospitals once the new hospital opens?
We anticipate that the Johnson Heights Medical Building will continue to serve as physician offices since it is near the new hospital. The Sacred Heart Medical Building will be included in our plans for the reuse of that campus. The Health System does own some of the office buildings and other properties near each hospital, and we plan to sell them. We believe that many of the physicians who own the other properties will also sell them and acquire offices near the new hospital. Although we have no plans to buy the physicians' current offices, we will keep them informed on plans for redevelopment of the Sacred Heart Campus and any developers interested in that campus. We will also be working with individual physicians and developers to create physician office space near the new hospital location.

Paying for the New Hospital

How much will the new hospital cost? How will WMHS pay for it?
The cost for building the new hospital is $228 million. WMHS plans to pay for the new hospital by issuing bonds, using our cash reserves, and conducting a capital fundraising campaign.

Will WMHS have to borrow a lot of money to build the new hospital? How will WMHS pay it back?
Yes, a significant portion of the funding for the new hospital will be obtained or secured through issuing bonds, and we will have to use our operating revenue to repay this obligation. That is why it is so important that our operations become as productive and cost efficient as possible so that we have the additional revenue we will need. This is one of the reasons why we implemented the Lean/Six Sigma philosophy, which focuses on reducing costs by improving quality and efficiency. Also, we anticipate that we will save $13 to $15 million a year by operating as a single campus and that money will help pay for the new hospital.

What is WMHS doing now to help afford the new hospital?
Our FY05 and FY06 operating and capital budgets were based on our goal of having the financial resources available to afford a new hospital. These budgets were developed to ensure that we deliver safe and quality care to our patients, adequately provide for our employees, and invest in equipment and technology that is essential and can be relocated to the new hospital. We also will use these guidelines in developing our budgets for the next several years.

Will WMHS receive any tax money to help with building the new hospital?
As a private, not-for-profit organization, WMHS does not receive any tax dollars for its operations or capital investments. We will have to fund this project from the issuance of bonds, cash reserves, and our capital campaign.

I hear that WMHS is non-profit. How can that be if WMHS has an operating budget of over $200 million and makes money from operations?
WMHS is classified as not-for-profit organization since we do not strive to make money or a "profit" that is paid to its investors. Any money left after we pay our operating expenses is put back into our organization. That is the money we use for purchasing new equipment, expanding services, renovating our facilities, and now building a new hospital. WMHS is also tax-exempt since we provide community benefits, such as free care, educational programs, free screenings, etc. Last fiscal year, we provided more than $10 million in community benefits.

WMHS is a regional healthcare provider and serves residents in surrounding counties in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Since these people will be served by the new hospital, will they help pay for it?
Yes, our fundraising campaign will be directed to residents outside of Allegany County.

Capital Campaign

While $7 million is a lot of money, it is still only a small fraction of the total cost. Why bother?
There are several very valid reasons. First, $7 million is a large sum of money. It will provide us with that extra margin to purchase some high tech equipment that we could not afford otherwise and it will enable us to provide patient services that would not be possible without the campaign funds. The Capital Campaign will help us keep our promises to the community.

Second, a Community Capital Campaign strengthens the ties and the loyalty between the community and the Health System. When someone makes a gift, it makes them a part of the team and gives them a sense of ownership. And after all, everyone is an owner since we are a community not-for-profit Health System.

The goal of $7 million is a lot of money to raise in the Cumberland area. Do you think you can do it?
Yes. We are optimistic that we can raise $7 million for several reasons. Before making a final decision to proceed with a capital campaign, we retained the services of a consulting firm to conduct an economic feasibility study for us. This firm has conducted more than 2,000 such studies and has an excellent record of accurate and successful results. We asked them to determine if we could raise $10 million. After interviewing fifty-seven community leaders and analyzing numerous economic indicators, the consulting firm advised us that $10 million would be a difficult goal to reach, but that $7 million was a conservative and attainable goal.

We are very encouraged by the initial results during the earliest phases of the campaign. We have commitments for $5.2 million as of early February.

Everyone will benefit from a new hospital. Who is being asked to participate in the Capital Campaign?
Everyone in the geographic region served by the new hospital will be given an opportunity to make a contribution. A well organized, highly motivated "Family" or internal campaign is already underway. Executive and management personnel, as well as employees, have already been asked for their pledges and the results thus far have been outstanding. An excellent plan is in place to ask the governing boards, auxiliary, other volunteers and business partners for their best contributions. The leadership of the Medical Staff is currently organizing to conduct the physician campaign and early indications are very positive.

As soon as the already successful Family Campaign is completed, the Campaign will move forward to invite all others to make their contribution.

Why do you want me to pledge for five years? This is a long time.
Almost always, Capital Campaigns with substantial dollar goals establish a pledge period, usually from three to five years, occasionally longer but seldom shorter. Of course, there are provisions for flexibility; a donor may tailor his or her gift schedule to fit his or her personal financial situation in most cases.

The reason for an extended period of time to pledge and make the gift in payments over a period of years is to benefit both the donor and the institution receiving the gift. A one-time lump sum gift that would seem impossible or unthinkable to a donor can be made over a five year period with little or no personal sacrifice. And of course, the institution receives a much larger gift than they could expect from a one-time donation.

What happens if I can't pay my pledge?
Your pledge is not a legal obligation or a contract. It is a voluntary contribution, a gift from the heart. Most would call it a moral obligation, a promise to be fulfilled under normal circumstances. It may interest you to know that in communities like ours, the default rate is less than 3 percent, especially for a worthy cause like a new hospital.

Impact of a New Hospital

There are several smaller hospitals in the geographic area WMHS serves. How will the new hospital relate to them?
Our new hospital will enhance our status as a regional medical center and should help generate additional referrals from the smaller hospitals in the tri-state area. Many people equate "new" with "bigger and better" so we anticipate an increase in volume because of building a new hospital.

Does the new hospital planned for Keyser have any effect on the new hospital for WMHS?
Even though Potomac Valley Hospital plans to build a replacement hospital in Keyser, their new facility will be smaller than our new facility at approximately 50,000 square feet with 32 beds. It will provide emergency and general medical/surgical services so it will not conflict with our plans for the new hospital. We are in full support of Potomac Valley Hospital as they move forward with their plans for a new hospital.

I hear that a new hospital is good for the economy. How does this work?
One of the ways a new hospital benefits the economy is through its construction. Due to the magnitude of this construction project, we will use a builder that specializes in building hospitals; however, local labor will be used as much as possible. Some of the materials and supplies for the new hospital also will come from local vendors.

More importantly, the new hospital will be a great tool as Allegany County works to bring more businesses to our area. A new state-of-the art hospital will be quite attractive to companies that are reviewing sites for new locations since it ensures great access to health care for their employees.

The announcement about our plan for the new hospital has already started to have a positive economic impact in the Willowbrook Road corridor. Several developers are in the process of developing new housing in that area, and there is retail interest in several properties along Interstate 68.

Why is WMHS continuing to make changes at both hospitals if a new hospital is being built? What will happen to the old hospitals?

While we are building the new hospital, we need to provide our patients with quality care and a safe environment. We will continue to enhance services, invest in new equipment, and maintain the existing hospitals until the new hospital is ready in 2009.

For the past several years, we have based our capital expenditures around our plans for the new hospital. Any new equipment purchased now is for newer technology that enhances patient care or replaces needed medical equipment and can be moved to the new hospital. Wherever possible, though, we are postponing the purchase of new equipment until 2009 so that we will have the latest technology and newest equipment available when the hospital on Willowbrook Road opens.

Maintaining a safe and pleasant environment for our patients and staff at the two existing hospitals is also vital. That is why you will see our Facilities staff doing needed repairs, preventive maintenance, and other projects to ensure everyone's safety and comfort.

We also need to maintain the hospitals since both of the buildings will be used for other purposes once the new hospital is completed. We are working with a sub-committee from the Allegany County Chamber of Commerce to identify appropriate use for both hospitals that will benefit the community. The Memorial Campus reverts back to the City of Cumberland, and the Mayor and City Council will determine how it can best be used in the future. The Health System will work with companies that specialize in the redevelopment of properties to find a suitable use for Sacred Heart.

I hear that WMHS employees are supportive of the new hospital. What about the medical staff? The Auxiliary?

Combining our services and technology at one location will be very helpful for the members of our medical staff. In recent years, we have heard from our physicians that having a single hospital campus would be much more convenient for them and their patients, which was one of the factors behind our decision to have one hospital.

Our physicians have been involved in planning the new hospital to ensure that the new facility will meet their needs-and the needs of their patients. Many of our physicians also are providing financial support for the new hospital through their pledges to the Capital Campaign. Our goal is to have the medical staff pledge $1 million for the new hospital for their patients.

For many years, the members of the Memorial Hospital Auxiliary and the Sacred Heart Hospital Auxiliary provided much-needed volunteer and financial support to their respective hospitals. The two auxiliaries have raised millions of dollars over the years to help us acquire the latest equipment, implement new programs, and renovate our facilities.

The membership of both auxiliaries were excited about the idea for a new hospital, and the leadership of both organizations worked cooperatively to establish a new organization, the WMHS Auxiliary, to help us reach our goal of one hospital. In May 2005, the two auxiliaries voted to combine into the one WMHS Auxiliary.

Since then, the new WMHS Auxiliary has carried on the traditions of its predecessors through volunteerism and fundraising. They have generously pledged to raise $1 million over the next five years for the new hospital on Willowbrook Road.

If you have additional questions about the Capital Campaign, please call the WMHS Foundation at 301-723-1454.