‘Outdated and obsolete’: Middle Shore to get new facility to replace aging hospital

The Shore Regional Medical Center in Easton on July 10, 2024 Photo by Danielle J. Brown

The Middle Shore is set to receive a brand-new University of Maryland regional hospital after a state hospital-regulating agency Wednesday approved a plan to replace the aging Shore Regional Medical Center in Easton.

The Health Services Cost Review Commission unanimously approved rate increases for the Easton medical center  on Wednesday to help fund a total replacement of the hospital that currently serves about 170,000 residents spread across five rural counties.

“With the commission’s vote today, we were able to secure an increase in rates to help us offset some of the cost of the new hospital in Easton, and those rates make the project financially viable for us,” said Ken Kozel after the vote. Kozel is president and CEO of the University of Maryland Shore Regional Health.

The approved rate increases will result in $18.6 million for the hospital each year, Kozel said. The total replacement costs are projected to be around $540 million, which will be covered by state funding, federal grants, philanthropy donations, bonds and cash.

“This project is relatively expensive, but it represents the wholesale replacement of a facility. The physical plant is fairly aged,” HSCRC Executive Director Jon Kromm said at the Wednesday meeting.

According to a press release from University of Maryland Shore Regional Health, the new facility will “replace the existing hospital in downtown Easton, which is outdated and obsolete, with the majority of the hospital constructed between 1955 and 1975.”

Additionally, the hospital will move to a more convenient location, just off of Route 50, rather than the residential area downtown where it currently sits.

The Shore Regional Medical Center in Easton is the primary medical provider for Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties.

The Maryland State Office of Rural Health reports that about 25% of Marylanders live in rural areas, where they tend to struggle with various health needs as well as transportation challenges.

At an HSCRC meeting in June, Kozel explained the struggles of providing health care in rural areas.

“Geographically dispersed with low populations equates to difficulty accessing health care service, because of both distance and a lack of providers,” he said at the June meeting. “Combination of age and obesity rates mean struggles with chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). Social determinants like poverty, employment, education levels result in issues with mental health and substance abuse.”

The new facility is also supported by the Moore administration, which promised to provide $100 million from the state budget for the replacement costs.

“It feels good. Ultimately, our community is going to benefit from a new state-of-the-art hospital,” Kozel said Wednesday. “And as a rural community in Maryland, we need the same access to health care that you would get anywhere else in the state.”

Senate Minority Leader Stephen S. Hershey Jr. (R-Upper Shore) and Sen. Johnny Mautz (R-Middle Shore) attended Wednesday’s meeting, as parts of their districts will be impacted by the new facility.

“It will help us to grow our health care out on the Eastern Shore,” Hershey said at the meeting. Mautz agreed with the minority leader’s comments.

Plans call for the new facility to have a wide range of services when completed, including individual centers for behavioral health, birthing, cardiac intervention, critical care services, emergency services and many others.

“The hospital campus will reside on 230-plus acres off Longwoods Road near the intersection of U.S. Route 50, adjacent to the Talbot County Community Center,” said Shore Regional Health’s press release. “Approximately 3.5 miles from the current hospital, this location will offer greater visibility, and easier and safer access for ambulance and helicopter transport as well as ample parking for patients, staff and visitors.”

Officials hope to break ground for construction of the new location is scheduled next summer, but pre-construction preparations will begin at the end of this month, according to the press release. The new facility is scheduled to be open by summer 2028.

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