BERLIN — Atlantic General Hospital has received a Certificate of Need (CON) from the Maryland Health Care Commission (MHCC) to move forward with building an ambulatory surgery center on Route 589, near the south end of Ocean Pines.
It’s the first time a certificate of need has been granted for a healthcare facility in Worcester County, since the State of Maryland approved the construction of Atlantic General Hospital in 1991.
Atlantic General plans to break ground on the new surgery center as part of a new 98,000-square-foot facility that will also include primary and specialty care physician practices, wellness and integrative therapies and other outpatient services. The surgery center will comprise two full service operating rooms and three procedure rooms, dramatically increasing access to surgical services while reducing cost for minor and outpatient surgeries.
The construction of the surgery center is included in the organization’s $35 million master facilities plan being funded, in part, by the Atlantic General Hospital Foundation’s $10 million Campaign for the Future. The capital campaign also supported construction of the John H. ‘Jack’ Burbage, Jr. Regional Cancer Care Center and the Atlantic General Women’s Health Center in West Ocean City, and will help fund inpatient care redesign at the main hospital as well as expansion of the emergency department.
“This is a very important step in the continuing development of our health care system,” said Michael Franklin, president and CEO of Atlantic General Hospital. “This will be the first full-service, freestanding ambulatory surgery center in Worcester County, and it will make access to care in the region much more convenient as our community continues to grow.”