New medical center should be finished by end of 2010

Presentations given on plans for urgent care center to the progress of the new hospital's construction

September 16, 2009|By DAN DEARTH

HAGERSTOWN -- The new Washington County regional medical center on Robinwood Drive should be finished by December 2010, an official associated with the $296 million project said Wednesday.

About 35 people attended a public forum Wednesday night at Robinwood Medical Center to listen to presentations on topics ranging from plans for an urgent care center in downtown Hagerstown to the progress of the new hospital's construction.

Project executive Neal McKelvey said the new hospital is about 50 percent complete.

"By the end of September, basically, the external part of the building will be in place," McKelvey said. "The roof is on and the building is dry."

The 510,000-square-foot medical center will replace the existing Washington County Hospital on East Antietam Street in Hagerstown.

McKelvey said a lot of work still needs to be done to the interior of the new building.

Bond sales will pay about $264 million of the project's cost, Raymond Grahe, the hospital's vice president of finance, said in March. The rest of the cost will be paid through donations and investments.

Mike Zampelli, vice president of Antietam Health Services, told the audience that a list of proposed sites for an urgent care center in downtown Hagerstown has been narrowed from about 18 to two.

The center would treat people with minor injuries and illnesses.

One of the sites being considered is on West Baltimore Street near the Baltimore Street Station Car Wash, Zampelli said. The location of the other site is being withheld from the public at the property owner's request.

Zampelli said the cost of the center won't be known until a site is chosen.

If everything goes well, the center would open in about 15 months, Zampelli said.

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