The University of Maryland Shore Regional Health Board of Directors recently approved the Strategic Service Delivery Plan – the culmination of an 18 month study of its key clinical service lines and the regional health care needs, resources and access to services for the people of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties. This study involved extensive input from physicians, staff and team members, local and UMMS management, elected officials, health officers and other community partners-as well as the voice of the community through regional listening sessions and surveys.
The Service Delivery Plan reflects future planning needs identified in five strategic clinical service lines and further incorporates regional transportation recommendations. The plan becomes part of the UM Shore Regional Health Strategic Plan for the coming five years, through 2021. The five clinical service line councils are: Primary Care (including obstetrics/gynecology and pediatrics); Medical Specialties; Surgical Specialties; Oncology; and Behavioral Health. Some common themes identified by these service line councils include: transportation challenges, particularly for medical needs; physician shortages; telemedicine expansion needs; improved communications technology to support chronic disease management, care coordination and access to specialties; and expanded community outreach, education, screenings and support groups.
A key element of the plan is the updating of a docketed Certificate of Need (CON) to replace the existing hospital at Easton with a new facility on Route 50 near the Talbot County Community Center which UM Shore Regional Health purchased from Talbot County in 2015. The CON will be updated in September and could take a year or more for the State’s full review. The replacement hospital is designed to address costly, aged infrastructure, improved access by EMS and the public, private room capacity and state of the art future patient care unit design. Hospitals and inpatient beds in Chestertown and Cambridge are not affected by this CON. The proposed new hospital is a replacement for Easton only and does not incorporate beds from any other UM Shore Regional Health location.
UM Shore Regional Health commitments affirmed in the Strategic Service Delivery Plan include:
- Commitment to maintain quality health care services and jobs in Chestertown and Kent County, focused upon state of the art medical care, emergency care, access to physicians and specialists and robust outpatient services. Hospital inpatient services will be maintained until at least 2022, with continued feasibility of inpatient beds evaluated in light of the State of Maryland’s 2016-2017 study of rural health care.
- Commitment to maintain quality health care services and jobs in Cambridge and Dorchester County, focused upon state of the art medical care, emergency care, access to physicians and specialists, and robust outpatient services. The aged current facility must be addressed and a state of the art emergency department must be designed to meet future health care needs in the County. Future planning will be done in partnership with Dorchester’s citizens and in the context of the State’s study of rural health care.
UM Shore Regional Health is committed to quality, accessible and sustainable health care for our communities in the five-county region.