Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON (WMAL) – State and Prince George’s County leaders were exuberant Thursday as ground was broken on the new University of Maryland Capital Region Medical Center in Largo.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said the $543 million, 600,000 square-foot facility will give more than 1 million people in Prince George’s County and Southern Maryland the hospital they deserve and access to some of the best healthcare professionals in the world.
The hospital, which will replace current University of Maryland Prince George’s County Hospital in Cheverly, will include a trauma center, a neonatal ICU, a stroke center, cancer program, and pediatric hospital. It will also offer primary and preventive care.
Prince George’s County has fewer health care providers than neighboring counties, and the it’s community-based care is limited according to county executive Rushern Baker.
“The time when residents would leave the county to address their healthcare needs is coming to an end, and we need to celebrate that,” said Prince George’s County Council Chair Derrick Davis.
Davis added it will also create jobs around the transit-oriented development.
The project has been in the works for decades. The Hogan administration has contributed more than $200 million toward it.
Baker has spent months in hospitals with his wife who suffers from early onset dementia.
“Yes, we’re building a building today, but that is not what we’re doing,” Baker said at the groundbreaking. “What we are doing is giving hope to those who come in there and don’t know the people that they are trusting their loved one to.”
The hospital’s expected to open in 2021.
Copyright 2017 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (Photo: Rushern Baker Twitter)
