The University of Maryland Medical System broke ground on a new $540 million hospital on the Eastern Shore Monday after years of work and development.
At a time when many hospitals in rural areas are closing down due to financial struggles, UMMS is going in the opposite direction with the creation of the University of Maryland Shore Regional Medical Center in Easton. The new hospital replaces an outdated facility nearby and is the result of a long development process, said Kenneth Kozel, CEO and president at UM Shore Regional Health.
“Everybody else is closing or reducing services,” Kozel said. “It’s a tough environment to work in, but when you have everyone moving in the right direction, it really makes a difference.”
The creation of a new hospital in Easton, a small town of 17,225 people, comes as the country sees a decline in the number of rural health care institutions. Between 2005 and 2023, 100 rural hospitals completed closed or downsized to provide solely emergency or outpatient care, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The crisis in rural health care is projected to get worse in the coming years. Over 30% of the the country’s rural hospitals are at risk of closing because of financial losses.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Matt Hooke over at Baltimore Business Journal
