Calvert's new medical center expands services to community
Governor attends ribbon cutting, tours hospital's electronic ICU
Prince Frederick, MD (June 22,2009) - Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley attended Friday's ribbon cutting of the new Calvert Medical Arts Center on the campus of Calvert Memorial Hospital in Prince Frederick. The 75,000-square foot facility brings additional services and physician talent to serve the growth and needs of area residents.
The governor's visit to CMH was part of his daylong swing across Calvert to focus attention on how state government is working with local officials to address the challenges and priorities facing the county. "It is important for families across Maryland to know that their government is working for them," said O'Malley. "Strengthening our local partnerships is absolutely critical to the progress of areas like Calvert County."
Following a prayer brunch with faith leaders in North Beach, he joined Lt. Governor Anthony Brown, Health and Mental Hygiene Secretary John Colmers, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and Calvert County Commission President Wilson Parran to attend the official opening of the $17-million Calvert Medical Arts Center.
The celebration drew more than 200 including state and local officials, business leaders and community members as well as doctors, nurses, technicians, office managers, therapists and support staff who work in the building each day.
"This building represents the true future of health care in our community," said CMH President and CEO Jim Xinis. "It raises the bar for what can be achieved when medical minds, healthcare planners, hospital leaders and the community collaborate with the best interests of the residents of Southern Maryland at heart."
The three-story structure is now home to Calvert Medical Imaging Center, Calvert Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine Center and Chesapeake Physical Medicine. Other practices have located there as well, including Bay Shore Pediatrics, Calvert Dermatology, Shah Associates and Woman's Wellness.
A new information technology center on the second floor provides critical space for IT infrastructure for the hospital to develop a community health information system. Later this fall, CMH plans to open a new breast center and neuroscience and spine center there. The center also enables the hospital to recruit new primary care and specialists to the area.
"We're not here to just dedicate a building," said Dean Schleicher, who chairs the hospital's board of directors, "but to recognize the commitment to excellence of the CMH employees, medical staff and hospital leadership."
Dr. Vinod K. Shah, founder and CEO of Shah Associates, whose 16,000-square foot medical complex occupies the entire third floor of the center, echoed that sentiment. "I often heard from my very dear mother that with every stone laid, the foundation builds, with every drop saved, the lake fills," he said. "Some 35 years ago, my brother, my wife and I came to this community. It has been a pleasure for us to be a little stone, a little drop, in helping to make our community what it is today."
The ceremony moved inside the spacious lobby of the three-story structure for additional remarks that included the personal story of cancer patient Brandon Greening who had surgery and chemotherapy at Calvert Memorial Hospital. The moving account of his battle with this terrible disease capped the announcement that $800,000 in state grant funds has been approved to expand the hospital's infusion therapy center.
The $2.2 million project is expected to start later this summer and be completed in six months. It will increase the number of treatment areas from eight to 14 and feature padded, comfortable reclining chairs with side tables. Some of the areas will have curtains for patients who desire privacy. Others will be open for those who want space for family and friends.
The crowd filled the lower level and the balcony above as the governor joined Xinis, Greening and the center's physicians to cut the ribbon. Following the ceremony, O'Malley toured the hospital's Intensive Care Unit, which went live last month with groundbreaking information technology that puts CMH on the frontline of quality care at the community level.
Calvert Memorial is the first hospital in the state to implement the new system – called VISICU eCare Manager™. It allows intensivists (or intensive care physicians) and veteran critical care nurses at a remote monitoring center to provide CMH bedside staff with an extra set of eyes and ears. Using voice, video, and high-speed data transmission, they're able to monitor such crucial indicators as blood pressure heart rate, oxygen levels and respiratory rate for early warning signs and intervene proactively, when needed.
Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley (center) participated in the ribbon cutting of the new Calvert Medical Arts Center on June 19. He is joined by (front l-r) Dr. Guillermo Zambrano, CMH President and CEO Jim Xinis, Dr. Vinod Shah, cancer patient Brandon Greening and Erdman Regional President Jeffrey Nicholas. Also pictured are Dr. Anwar Munshi, Senator Roy Dyson, Dr. Mahesh Shah, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., Calvert County Commission President Wilson Parran, Delegate Sue Kullen, Dr. Sheldon Goldberg and Dr. Karen McDermott.
The June 19 opening celebration of the Calvert Medical Arts Center drew more than 200 including state and local officials, business leaders and community members as well as doctors, nurses, technicians, office managers, therapists and support staff who work in the building each day. They filled the lobby and balcony above to hear Governor Martin O'Malley speak.
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