New medical facility in Aberdeen gets preview ahead of Feb. 6 opening

Emergency rooms with cutting-edge technology. A state-of-the-art inpatient behavioral health facility. And out back? A helipad to quickly transport stroke patients for critical care.

Those are just a few of the enhancements coming to Aberdeen and Harford County when the new University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center opens on Feb. 6.

Nearly a decade in the making, the new center is just one building in a multistage, $260 million investment by the University of Maryland Medical System to improve access to care at three new facilities across Harford County. The new medical center in Aberdeen cost $102 million.

The majority of the funding came directly from UM Medical System operating dollars and debt. The health care organization also received over $5 million from the state to help pay for the cost of the inpatient behavioral health facility, according to Shena Matsos, director of marketing and communications for the medical system.

“This building epitomizes the commitment of serving the health care needs of the citizens of Harford County,” said Harford County Executive Bob Cassily. “It’s really impressive to see this level of commitment.”

Hospital and local officials unveiled the new 130,000-square-foot building on Wednesday and offered tours of the new emergency department and behavioral health facilities. UM Upper Chesapeake Health President and CEO Elizabeth Wise joined Cassily and a number of UM Medical System doctors and officials to speak at the event.

The new facility in Aberdeen at 660 McHenry Road will have 25 emergency department bays, two trauma centers, an in-patient behavioral health facility for those experiencing a mental health crisis and Maryland’s first acute-ready stroke facility. Already open next door is a new 93,000-square-foot health and wellness center – part of the same $102 million Aberdeen investment – for physician practices that includes cardiologists, physical therapy and primary care doctors.

Also on Feb. 6, another new facility will open in Bel Air. The patient bed tower on Upper Chesapeake Drive will have 72 new patient beds. UM Medical System is also building a new ambulatory surgery center in Bel Air. That day, Harford Memorial Hospital in Havre de Grace will close, as UM Medical System transfers care over to the new facilities in Aberdeen and Bel Air.

County and local leaders see the new facility in Aberdeen as an economic and quality-of-life boon for the county, reflecting the commitment of University of Maryland Medical System officials to supporting health care throughout the state.

Aberdeen Mayor Patrick McGrady said that the new facility will put health, wellness and emergency medical services closer to locals than ever.

McGrady said the health and wellness center was placed in offices that were built for defense contractors that never moved into the area. He said he was excited about the possibility of further expansion of the facility, especially because  the highways that run through Aberdeen make it easy for people to get to the medical center from throughout the county.

While the nonprofit status of the medical system will take the properties off the tax rolls, the benefits in quality of life for residents will more than make up for it, McGrady said.

Lisa Thomas, an emergency medical doctor with the Upper Chesapeake Medical Center, said that the new technology in the rooms at the Aberdeen facility will make it simpler for patients to get the care they need. Every room has a television screen with full telehealth capabilities, meaning that specialists from throughout the Upper Chesapeake region could visit with patients in the emergency room without requiring a transfer.

As an example, Thomas pointed to pediatric care, where staff could use telehealth services to quickly connect a child with a pediatric specialist, giving medical staff in Aberdeen the knowledge they need to provide the best care.

But the most impressive distinction, Thomas said, is that the Aberdeen facility is the first acute-ready stroke center in the nation.

“When we think about what are the big ticket items that cause morbidity and mortality nationwide and statewide, it’s heart attacks and strokes,” she said. “We want to be able to make sure that we have timely management for those patients.”

While the Aberdeen facility has the scanning technology and medicine to treat strokes, manual stroke intervention would require patients to be flown to a larger facility. That’s why the helipad is critical — during a stroke, every minute matters.

Richard Lewis, the chair of the department of psychiatry, also spoke about the importance of the in-patient behavioral health facility at the center. With private rooms and outdoor spaces, Lewis said that the facility “will really allow us to treat our patients in their greatest time of need for their most severe symptoms in a safe, beautiful, really humane setting.”

“One of the things that’s very important is making sure we have updated facilities and access to all kinds of care,” Wise said. “There was a need for investing in new facilities for that.”

Community members can sign up for tours of the new facility on Jan. 12, 19 and 26 by visiting umuch.org/aberdeentours.