A group of local physicians have partnered to build a new medical facility in an effort to meet the needs of Howard County?s growing, aging population.
“As the population is expanding in Howard County, they spend all this time talking about roads and schools. No one talks about medical infrastructure,” said Dr. Michael Silverman, president of the Howard County General Hospital?s professional staff.
The Medical Pavilion at Howard County, located next to the hospital in Columbia, will give physicians more space to grow their practices and serve more patients, Silverman said.
“Most of us are in constrained spaces,” he said.
The private practice physicians are partnering with Howard County General Hospital to build and operate this facility. The hospital owns the 10-acre parcel, hospital spokeswomanSharon Sopp said.
Construction will begin soon on the 167-square-foot building, which will house 11 medical practices and 75 physicians, a Johns Hopkins laboratory and pharmacy, and the Howard County General Hospital Wellness Center, hospital officials said.
There also will be an expanded Claudia Mayer Cancer Resource Center.
The facility, which will cost about $35 million to $40 million to build, is expected to be complete in July 2009.
Developers are planning to use environmentally friendly building design for the new pavilion, including seeking certification for LEED, Leadership for Energy and Environmental Design.
The building will have a white roof to reflect heat and bike racks and showers to encourage biking to work, Don Moses, project executive from design firm Marshall Erdman and Associations, said in a statement.
“You are going into a medical building; it should be a healthy building,” Silverman said.
Howard County General Hospital has operated at capacity for a couple of years, Sopp said. Construction is under way for an expansion project that is expected to add 42 new beds to the 219-bed hospital. The project is expected to be completed by late summer 2009, Sopp said.
