The massive renovation and expansion project at Howard County General Hospital got a large boost with a $4 million grant from the county.
The grant, approved by the County Council, willcome in two installments: $3.5 million now and $500,000 in April, county officials said.
“It signified the value and importance of a state-of-the-art, full-service hospital here in Howard County,” said Christopher McCabe, interim vice president of the Howard Hospital Foundation, the hospital?s philanthropic arm.
The $4 million is part of a $30 million effort to secure private donations and grants to finish the 233,656-square-foot project, expected to cost about $105 million. The rest of the money will come from bonds and the hospital?s reserve funds, McCabe said.
The project will feature a new pavilion and parking garage to meet the needs at the growing hospital. Last year, the hospital had 14,000 admissions, and personnel performed about 13,000 surgeries, according to a county news release.
“Howard County?s population is both growing and growing older, which will drive demand for health care service and will, in turn, challenge the capacity of our county?s only acute care hospital,” Victor Broccolino, hospital president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
The cornerstone of the project will be the patient pavilion, which will include 90 private rooms in the surgical, cardiac/telemetry and medical/surgical units, hospital officials said.
The 219-bed hospital will see a net gain of 42 beds, McCabe said.
“The movement in hospital operations is separate rooms,” McCabe said. “Patients, nurses and family have greater privacy.”
In addition, private rooms will reduce the spread of germs, he said.
The hospital, which is a member of Johns Hopkins Medicine, opened in 1973 and employs more than 1,700 people, 800 medical staff members and 1,000 volunteers, according to hospital officials.
The pavilion is scheduled for completion in late 2009 and the entire project in 2011, officials said.
