ATLANTIC GENERAL HOSPITAL SHARES PLANS FOR NEW MEDICAL CENTER IN OCEAN PINES

Berlin, Md. – Atlantic General Hospital officials have announced plans for a new facility in Ocean Pines that will house a proposed surgery center in addition to primary and specialty care physician practices and other outpatient services. The project, which will expand surgical services and help consolidate existing community services into a single location that is convenient to Ocean Pines’ large senior population and more centrally located for others in the region, is the next phase of the organization’s master facilities plan being funded in part by their Campaign for the Future. Atlantic General will be working with a property developer, who will own the property and establish a long-term lease with Atlantic General.

With a patient/family-centered focus and on creating the “right place,” one of the five rights principles of Atlantic General’s 2020 Strategic Vision, hospital leadership determined that an outpatient surgery center should be built as a more cost-effective, convenient and comfortable option for most patients who plan to undergo elective surgical procedures. The surgery center will feature a spacious operating room and three procedure rooms in addition to a family-centered recovery area. Atlantic General has filed with the Maryland Health Care Commission for a Certificate of Need to support the establishment of the surgery center.

X-ray services, a lab, a drive-through pharmacy and a new Atlantic ImmediCare clinic location will also be housed in the facility, along with a new integrative health center featuring community meeting space, treatment rooms and a demonstration kitchen. The Ocean Pines practice of primary care providers Lei Gong, M.D., and Oswaldo Nicastro, M.D. and the Atlantic General Diabetes Center, as well as Atlantic General’s orthopedics, neurology, pulmonology and gastroenterology specialists, will relocate when construction is complete.

“Seniors make up a twice the proportion of Worcester County’s communities as the state average, and many live in the Ocean Pines area. We wanted to create a hub for the types of healthcare and wellness services they need right where they live, and devote our existing hospital space to the most acute and seriously ill patients,” said Michael Franklin, president and CEO of Atlantic General Hospital.

The new 98,000 sq. ft. facility will be located on Rt. 589 on the south end of Ocean Pines. It is anticipated that Atlantic General Hospital will break ground at the site in May, 2019.

About Atlantic General Hospital

Atlantic General Hospital has been providing quality health care to the residents of Worcester, Wicomico, Somerset (Md.) and Sussex (Del.) counties since May 1993. Built through the commitment and generosity of a dedicated community, Atlantic General’s main facility in Berlin, Md., combines the warmth of personalized attention with the reassurance of medical expertise and advanced technology. The not-for-profit hospital provides quality specialty care in oncology, medical and surgical weight loss, orthopedics, and women’s diagnostics among other services. Atlantic General Health System, its network of more than 40 primary care providers and specialists, cares for residents and visitors throughout the region. For more information about Atlantic General Hospital, visit www.atlanticgeneral.org.

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