Proposed Site for New Hospital

The WMHS Board of Directors has approved the recommendation of its Planning Committee to pursue building a new hospital on Willowbrook Road, at the site of the current Allegany County Health Department. The recommendation is to develop a wide-ranging medical complex on Willowbrook Road that puts the healthcare services provided by WMHS in close proximity to the programs and services provided by the Allegany County Health Department, as well as the healthcare training programs offered at Allegany College of Maryland. This plan will give area residents unparalleled access to the community's primary healthcare resources.

The Health System has already taken initial steps to put this plan into motion. WMHS is finalizing arrangements to purchase the M & T Bank's former call center on Willowbrook Road and relocate many of its administrative services now located in the building that formerly housed the headquarters for the Kelly-Springfield Tire Company. Negotiations are also underway among WMHS, Allegany County government, and the Maryland Economic Development Company (MEDCO) for the health system to acquire the former Kelly headquarters building, which would become the new home for the Allegany County Health Department and make the proposed site available for a new hospital.

The Planning Committee considered ten sites in Allegany County, including the Memorial and Sacred Heart campuses, as possible locations for a single-hospital campus. During its evaluation process, the Planning Committee narrowed its focus to the two existing campuses and several new locations.

Although all services could be combined on the Memorial Campus, there are a variety of factors that preclude it as the best option. The cost of building the additional space needed for a single hospital at Memorial exceeds the cost to build it on the Sacred Heart Campus. In addition, it would be very difficult to manage a construction project of that magnitude at Memorial without causing extreme disruption to patients and staff. There also would be no existing space for future development at that site in the years to come.

There is sufficient acreage on the Sacred Heart Campus to construct the added space needed for a single hospital, but it would require using most of the existing site, leaving little to no room for further development. Other obstacles include the limited access to Sacred Heart and storm water management issues, both of which could not be resolved without significant financial investment, if at all. The cost of constructing the added space required for one hospital at Sacred Heart is projected to be comparable to building a new facility that would provide the same amount of square footage and parking. And in the end, part of our "new" single campus would still be more than 40 years old.

The Willowbrook Road site has many advantages, including the potential to create a healthcare complex that includes WMHS, the Allegany County Health Department, and Allegany College of Maryland. This site is easily accessible from Interstate 68 and also has multiple access routes. It also would be possible to make enhancements to Willowbrook Road and roads in the adjacent area to accommodate increased traffic. This location also is on current public transportation routes and is just a short distance from the city's most populated residential neighborhoods. There also is potential for additional development of health-related entities in the surrounding area.

This arrangement also is beneficial for the Allegany County Health Department. Currently, the Health Department is in need of additional space for its programs and services, and its building requires significant upgrades to its electrical service and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. Although Allegany County has been planning to invest in the current building, which was constructed more than 30 years ago, it is more prudent to invest in a building that was designed to accommodate today's computer and telecommunication systems.

According to preliminary designs, the new hospital would be seven stories with approximately 600,000 square feet. The WMHS Board of Directors approved the total project budget at $260 million. The Health System will fund this project by using cash reserves, issuing bonds, and conducting a capital fundraising campaign.

The next steps are to finalize plans for the new hospital and submit an application for a Certificate of Need (CON) with the Maryland Health Care Commission. Pending approval of our CON, we anticipate that construction would begin in March 2006 and a new hospital would be ready for patients in approximately 36 months.

Another phase of this project is planning for the reuse of both hospital campuses. The Memorial Campus is owned by the City of Cumberland, and WMHS and city officials are already in discussions for possible uses for that facility. WMHS will be working with a company that specializes in the redevelopment of properties to find suitable uses for the Sacred Heart Campus.

In the coming weeks, we will be working with the medical staff and employees to begin planning for a new hospital that will shape the future of healthcare in our community. Working together, we can create a premier healthcare system that will service the needs of area residents for generations to come.